Objective: To study the trend of infant mortality and the leading cause of the deaths in Sichuan province from 2001 to 2009.
Methods: Data presented in this report was obtained from the child mortality surveillance network with target population as children under 5 years of age. Rates on infant mortality, neonatal mortality and indirect estimation of infant mortality were calculated.
Results: The neonatal mortality rate and infant mortality rate in Sichuan dropped from 18.6, 25.5 in 2001 to 7.6, 12.1 per 1000 live birth in 2009, with rates of decline as 59.1% and 35.0%, from 2001 to 2009. In urban areas of Sichuan, the neonatal and infant mortality rates dropped from 4.7, 7.5 in 2001 to 3.7 and 6.5 per 1000 live birth in 2009, with the rates of decline as 22.3% and 13.1%. In the rural areas of Sichuan, the neonatal and infant mortality rates dropped from 25.2 and 34.0 in 2001 to 9.6, 14.3 per 1000 live birth in 2009, with rates of decline as 62.0%, 57.9% from 2001 to 2009.
Conclusion: In both urban and rural areas, the neonatal and infant mortality rates had decreased drastically from 2001 to 2009, due to the decrease of avoidable deaths as pneumonia and diarrhea in infants.