Effects of the health service and environmental factors on infant mortality: The case of Sri Lanka

Abstract

One of the findings of this study is that regional variations in the infant mortality rates of Sri Lanka are large, ranging from 26 per 1000 live births in Jaffna to 91 per 1000 in Nuwara Eliya, a tea estate district. These differences are more strongly associated with regional variations in environmental determinants of mortality than with regional variations in public health expenditure. The most significant environmental factor associated with interregional infant mortality rates was found to be the nature of the water supply (r = -0.82, significant at the 99% level). Regional government expenditure on health had only a weak association with infant mortality rates (r = 0.08).