U.S. infant mortality rate slips further

Washington, United States, October 16: A report from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday has reported that the national infant mortality rate continued to worsen, dropping to 29th in the world in 2004, the latest year that data are available from all countries, from 27th in 2000 and 23rd in 1990.

The report by CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics indicates that despite spending more on health care, the U.S. infant mortality rate still slipped further behind other developed countries.

The statistics show that the U.S. infant mortality rate was 6.78 infant deaths per 1,000 live births in 2004, while it was 6.86 infant deaths per 1,000 live births in 2005, virtually unchanged from 6.89 deaths per 1,000 births in 2000.

According to the report, Japan, Sweden, the U.K., Spain, France, Germany, Australia and 15 other countries all had infant mortality rates of fewer than 5 deaths for every 1,000 births in 2004, which is about 26 percent below the U.S. rate.

"The U.S. infant mortality rate is higher than rates in most other developed countries," said CDC researchers Marian F. MacDorman, PhD, and author of the report. "The relative position of the United States in comparison to countries with the lowest infant mortality rates appears to be worsening."

The government health experts say the U.S. infant mortality rate did not decline from 2000 to 2005, but preliminary results suggest a 2 percent drop in U.S. infant deaths from 2005 to 2006.

The report billed premature birth as a factor in more than two-thirds of infant deaths. From 2000 to 2005, the preterm birth rate in the United States went up from 11.6% to 12.7%.

"The plateau we have had is of great concern," said MacDorman. "Even if it is declining again, as the research suggests, we missed out on some gains during the plateau, and other indicators associated with infant mortality are going in the wrong direction."

The national current infant mortality rate is nearly 50 percent higher than the projected goal of 4.5 infant deaths per 1,000 births, the report suggests.

Non-Hispanic U.S. black women had the highest 2005 infant mortality rate -- 13.63 per 1,000 live births compared with 5.76 per 1,000 births among non-Hispanic white women.

Below is the complete list of infant mortality rates per 1,000 live births for 2004:
1. Singapore 2.0
2. Hong Kong 2.5
3. Japan 2.8
4. Sweden 3.1
5. Norway 3.2
6. Finland 3.3
7. Spain 3.5
8. Czech Republic 3.7
9. France 3.9
10. Portugal 4.0
11. Germany 4.1
11. Greece 4.1
11. Italy 4.1
11. Netherlands 4.1
15. Switzerland 4.2
16. Belgium 4.3
17. Denmark 4.4
18. Austria 4.5
18. Israel 4.5
20. Australia 4.7
21. Ireland 4.9
21. Scotland 4.9
23. England and Wales 5.0
24. Canada 5.3
25. Northern Ireland 5.5
26. New Zealand 5.7
27. Cuba 5.8
28. Hungary 6.6
29. Poland 6.9
29. Slovakia 6.9
29. United States 6.9
32. Puerto Rico 8.1
33. Chile 8.4
34. Costa Rica 9.0
35. Russian Federation 11.5
36. Bulgaria 11.7
37. Romania 16.8