Why is Child Mortality not Declining in Delhi?

Aashish Gupta , Population Studies Center, University of Pennsylvania

Using data from Demographic and Health Surveys conducted in India, this paper documents an increase in post-neonatal and child mortality in Delhi. This increase is worrying because infant mortality has been falling in most places in the developing world, important because Delhi is the world's second most populous city, as well as the most populous city in a developing country, and perplexing because residents of Delhi are among the richest in India. To understand why child health is worsening in Delhi, I use vital registration death counts with physician coded causes of death. This analysis reveals a rise in the cause of death categories of infectious and parasitic diseases, as well as respiratory conditions. These findings are consistent with emerging evidence of increasing exposure to air pollution in the city, and concerns of rising resistance to prescription antibiotics.

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 Presented in Session 176. Pollution and Birth Outcomes