| Establishing the causes of childhood mortality in Ghana: the 'spirit child'. | |
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MedLine Citation:
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PMID: 11266045 Owner: NLM Status: MEDLINE |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
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Communities in remote regions of northeast Ghana record some of the highest rates of under five mortality in West Africa (23.9 per 1000 children/year (Binka, Maude et al. (1995). International Journal of Epidemiology, 24(1), 127-135). The communities, isolated geographically and culturally from the main tribal groups in Ghana continue to adhere very strongly to traditional beliefs and practices. A qualitative study of both traditional and modern maternal and child health care systems in the area, demonstrated that almost 15% of deaths of infants under 3 months of age were due to a belief in chichuru or spirit children, resulting in infanticide. It is therefore a significant public health problem, which has to be addressed in programs for the control of child mortality. A modification of the verbal autopsy method is proposed to assist in the identification of non-biomedical causes of death. |
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Authors:
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P Allotey; D Reidpath |
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Publication Detail:
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Type: Case Reports; Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't |
Journal Detail:
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Title: Social science & medicine (1982) Volume: 52 ISSN: 0277-9536 ISO Abbreviation: Soc Sci Med Publication Date: 2001 Apr |
Date Detail:
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Created Date: 2001-03-26 Completed Date: 2001-05-31 Revised Date: 2007-11-15 |
Medline Journal Info:
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Nlm Unique ID: 8303205 Medline TA: Soc Sci Med Country: England |
Other Details:
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Languages: eng Pagination: 1007-12 Citation Subset: IM |
Affiliation:
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International Programs, Key Center for Women's Health, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Melbourne, Carlton Vic, Australia. p.allotey@kcwh.unimelb.edu.au |
Export Citation:
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| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
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Anthropology, Cultural Attitude to Health* Cause of Death* Congenital Abnormalities / diagnosis, mortality, psychology* Culture* Female Ghana / epidemiology Humans Infant Infant Mortality* Infant, Newborn Infanticide / ethnology* Medicine, Traditional Population Surveillance Pregnancy |
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
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