Infant mortality increases drastically in Hungary

Infant mortality has jumped dramatically in the last six months in Hungary, rising more than 8% over the same period in 2006, reports daily Népszabadság.

Medical experts do not yet understand the reason for the sudden spike in death rates, as the primary factor driving infant mortality rates is the lifestyle of the mother, which could not have changed so drastically since last year. Overall, 272 such cases were reported in the first half of 2007, compared to 251 in the same period a year earlier.

"The Hungarian Chamber of Doctors (Magyar Orvosi Kamara) [insists] that the Ministry of Health initiate an investigation into [rising] infant mortality by the end of September," said Kristóf Mánya, the chamber's secretary. Mánya added that the statistic was the most significant indicator of the health of a country's medical system.

József Mészáros, the country's top health official responsible for pediatric care, said "disorganization" in maternity and infant care and reduced support for premature infant care and obstetrics were the causes of the increased rate in infant deaths. He suggested strengthening prevention, namely in the area of prenatal care.

The ministry and the chamber have agreed that obstetrics should be more centralized in the future, while the government's platform includes a pledge that the national rate of infant mortality will be cut by half over the next 15 years.

Infant mortality rates are generally defined as the ratio of the number of deaths of children under one year of age to the number of live births in the same year, and is expressed as a number per 1,000 live births.

According to European Union data, the infant mortality rate in Hungary in 2005 was 6.2, compared to 2.4 in Sweden, which had the lowest such rate in the European Union.

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