Infant mortality in Macedonia highest in region

SKOPJE, April 11 (Xinhua) -- Infant mortality in Macedonia is the highest in the Balkan region, local media reported on Wednesday.

During the first three months of 2018, 35 children died out of a total of 1,155 births at the gynecology clinic in Skopje due to premature birth and the baby's organs having not formed, said the Macedonian health ministry.

On the other hand, according to UNICEF data, Macedonia is the only country in the whole region that shows a significant increase in infant mortality since 2010. The general regional trend is toward infant mortality decline.

The health ministry declared that among other factors that affect this phenomenon, the first is that pregnant women do not attend regular medical examinations, especially in rural areas where it is difficult to get to the doctor, so they don't know if they have complications.

UNICEF representative in Macedonia, Benjamin Perks, underlined that people think the improvement of health services has to do with the construction of large facilities and the purchase of equipment, but the issue should be on the human factor and investment in it.

The most important factor in this situation, according to UNICEF, is air pollution in the country.

During March 2018, the Macedonian health ministry made an assessment of the conditions in many hospitals where the babies were born and the level of health services in order to take required measures. Enditem