INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The fourth goal and one of the most important issues in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is to reduce infant and child mortality by two-thirds from 1990-2015, (UNICEF, 2006).Infant mortality rate (IMR) is one of the most important sensitive indicators of the economic and health status of a community. This is because more than any other age-group of a population, infants’ survival depends on the economic conditions of their environment (Madise, 2003). It is one of the components of United Nations human development index (UN, 2007). Hence its description is very vital for evaluation and planning of public health strategies (Park, 2005).

Child mortality rates still remain unacceptably high in sub-Saharan African countries as approximately half of childhood deaths take place in sub-Saharan Africa despite the region having only one fifth of the world’s children population (Smith, 2010). For instance, in sub-Saharan Africa, 1 child in 8 die before age five- nearly 20 times the average of 1 in 167 in developed parts of the world (Ojikutu, 2008).

Similarly, at the dawn of the twenty-first century, it is tragic that one in seven Nigerian children die before his or her fifth birthday (UNICEF, 2000). A baby born in Nigeria is 30 times more likely to die before age five than one born in an industrialised country (UNICEF, 2001). Infant and child mortality rates are exceedingly high, and Nigeria ranks 15th highest in the world among countries with high under-five mortality (UNICEF, 2001).