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Infant deaths in Portugal fall to lowest ever figure in 2014

Xinhua, January 20, 2015 Adjust font size:

A total of 238 infant deaths, of children under 12 months, were recorded in Portugal in 2014, which is the lowest figure since records began, according to a statement from the country's Directorate General for Health (DGS) issued Monday.

The infant mortality rate, or number of deaths per 1,000 births, fell to 2.85 compared to 2.95 in 2013. Last year's infant mortality rate was the second-lowest since 1996, according to DGS figures.

"Provisional figures extracted directly from the Electronic Death Certificate System (SICO), along with the birth rate estimate for 2014, show that the infant mortality rate fell to 2.85 per thousand births, compared to the previous year," said the DGS.

In 2014 Portugal registered a total of 83,511 live births down from a high of 120,008 in 2000, according to DGS figures.

"This is the first time that in absolute figures we registered the death of 238 infants. We have here one of the best infant mortality rates in the world," said the Director-general for Health, Francisco George, noting that the improvement was due to Portugal's development and greater focus on care during childbirth as well as a drop in the rate of cesarean sections. Endit