Mortality and morbidity situation in Siaya District

Abstract

This study is set to establish tho mortality schedule and also to investigate the major causes of illness and death in Siaya District which is one of the rural districts in Kenya. The results obtained for child and adult mortality are patched to produce smooth complete mortality schedules for the females and males in the district. Divisional and seasonal occurence of the major diseases responsible for illness in the district are investigated. Causes- specific mortality rates by five year age group are also estmated for the district. The study is divided into five chapters. Chapter 1 gives the background information of the study area and the mortality and morbidity in developing countries and in Kenya in particular. Chapter 2 discusses the data and the techniques of analysis utilized in this research. Chapter 3 presents and discusses the mortality estmates for the district Chapter 4 presents and discusses the major causes of illness and death in the district. Chapter 5 gives a summary of the findings, conclusions and policy implications of the study. This is followed by appendices, figures and references/bibliography. In this descriptive study, mortality rates are found to be high in the district. Life expectation at birth obtained for the males and females are 41.5 years and 46.6 years respectively. The results indicate that mortality rates are highest in the first five years of life. Mothers belonging to better off socio-economic group have lower child mortality. The leadind cause of death in the district is the category '' Air-borne'' diseases. Infant, life expectation at birth for the females and males rises by 13.4 and 13.6 years respectively when measles, tuberculoosis, respiratory diseases and meningitis are hypothetically eliminated in the constructed life tables. Cerebrovascular disesases, diarrhoel diseases and heart diseases are other major causes of death in the district. malaria is the leading cause of illiness in Siaya and is most dominant in the months of june and july.