Where do babies have the lowest risk of dying? In wealthier nations, the infant mortality rates are small, but never small enough. Japan, Finland, and Sweden have the lowest mortality rate, but that needs some explanation. The comparisons are between 19 OECD countries, meaning the most developed nations, that have at least 20,000 babies born every year. And, as in everything else, it depends on your definition of infant mortality. Some countries count infant deaths as any infant born alive who dies afterward, while other countries only include births that occur after 22 weeks of gestation.
A series of charts at Our World in Data shows the difference in the way statistics are determined, and then adjusts infant mortality rates to compare them for only babies born after 22 weeks of gestation. They also compare the rates of mortality in the first month after birth and the first year after birth. That's when South Korea slides from the third lowest mortality rate to the sixth lowest mortality rate. The good news is that in all these countries, the mortality rate is less than 1%. If only the entire world could boast such low rates. -via Real Clear Science
(Image credit: Hannah Ritchie)
Comments (1)
*Sigh*. First they're all about rigorously controlling variables in data to draw a more accurate picture. Then they go and pull this idiocy... comparing the huge US against a few of the best-ranked tiny countries. You could cherry-pick small areas in the US that have much better outcomes, too. Or you could compare the US with small countries that have worse outcomes, like Poland and Romania.
Would you compare the city of Toyko to the city of McMullen, AL? What useful information would you really get from such comparison?
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