Empirical relationship of mortality rate and GDP per capita in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Introduction

Infant mortality is an important indicator which represents the probability of death of an infant before his or her first birthday. It symbolizes a country‘s socio economic development towards the standard of human well-being in a broader area. According to the Central Bank annual report 2017, the infant mortality rate was recorded as 8.5 per thousand live births. There was a considerable decline in infant mortality in the post-liberalized era as compared to the pre-liberalized period. According to the UNICEF publication "Every Child Alive - The urgent need to end new born deaths" stated that Sri Lanka is the first among 52 low-income countries in the world with regard to infant mortality rates and also the World Bank named Sri Lanka as a role model for other countries with regard to upgrading the health sector. On the other hand, the mortality rates can be considered as indices which provide a baseline for the country‘s initiatives towards sustainable development. There are relatively less studies which have examined the factors affecting the infant mortality in the Sri Lankan context. "Demographic transition theory mentioned that the infant mortality tends to decline due to upgrading in living standard and also in the medical technology" (Lee, 2003). The study is initiated to take necessary steps for further improvements in maternity and child health in Sri Lanka.