Individual- and population-based interventions to improve survival in early life in a low resource setting

Chapter 1 of this thesis presents the public health importance of neonatal mortality in SSA and efforts to address it. Chapter 2 examines the validity of routine data being used to monitor progress towards actualizing MDG 4. Chapter 3 describes trends in neonatal mortality in the last two decades and compares these trends to that of infant and under-5 mortality; it further assesses the impact and challenges of polices and implemented intervention programs to achieve a reduction in neonatal mortality. Chapter 4 identifies individual- and population-level determinants for neonatal mortality while chapter 5 determines population-level factors for low birth weight. Chapter 6 examines variation in neonatal mortality in sub-Saharan Africa and underlying factors for the observed variation. Chapter 7 reports on the effect of maternal health insurance status on the uptake of antenatal, delivery and postnatal care, while chapter 8 describes the development of prediction models to identify pregnancies with a high risk of stillbirth. Chapter 9 provides recommendations on how to address avoidable neonatal deaths in SSA.