Identifying sub-national disparities and determinants of under-five mortality in Kenya 1990-2020

The number of child deaths occurring between birth and age five has been declining. However, the slowest rates of decline have been in sub-Saharan Africa, with important differences between and within countries. It is important to understand regional differences in mortality risk and the levels of intervention coverage to facilitate better planning and resource allocation. In many African countries the estimates for child mortality are obtained from national household surveys that manage to generate estimates only for populations too large to really inform effective local planning or measure local progress. Information from smaller geographical units is essential and there are scientific methods that have been developed to do this using existing data.

This project aims to produce estimates of child mortality and determine the prevalence of risk factors at the county level (the new unit of health planning used by the Ministry of Health) at different time points. Models will be developed to analyse the dynamics of interventions and risk factors, and their influences on reductions in child mortality at county-level using data from census and surveys.

The results of the study will be used to facilitate improved targeted disease control and effective resource allocation.

This grant was awarded under the scheme's previous name of Intermediate Fellowships in Public Health and Tropical Medicine.