Infant Mortality Rising in Gaza Strip for First Time in 50 Years, Says UN Agency
Source: Haaretz
Israel's blockade of the coastal enclave could be one of the contributing factors to the increase in baby deaths, according to UNRWA.
For the first time in more than half-a-century, the infant mortality rate in Gaza is on the rise, according to a new study by the United Nations aid agency for Palestinian refugees.
"The number of babies dying before the age of one has consistently gone down over the last decades in Gaza, from 127 per 1,000 live births in 1960 to 20.2 in 2008," the United Nations Relief and Works Agency said in a statement over the weekend.
However, "at the last count, in 2013, it had risen to 22.4 per 1,000 live births," UNRWA said. The statement was reported by the Lebanon Daily Star.
The agency added that neonatal mortality in Gaza – the number of babies who die before the age of four weeks – rose from 12 per 1,000 live births in 2008 to 20.3 in 2013.
Read more: http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/1.670378
