Latest statistics show improvement but disparities remain
This morning the Statistical Institute of Belize unveiled the results of a Multiple Indicators Cluster Survey, MICS, which was conducted in 2006 in almost two thousand households across the country. The survey, executed with financial and technical assistance from UNICEF sought to obtain information regarding the progress of women fifteen to forty-nine and children five years and under in the areas of health, education, and child development. And while statistics are not always open to easy interpretation News Five’s Kendra Griffith decided to give it a try.
Kendra Griffith, Reporting
For three weeks in February, S.I.B. employees fanned out across Belize interviewing one thousand six hundred and seventy-five women and evaluating seven hundred and ninety-six children. Similar activities were also conducted in fifty countries across in world, all in an effort to gather baseline data for the monitoring of progress towards the U.N.’s Millennium Development Goals and the Plan of Action of a World Fit for Children, initiatives which the government of Belize has signed onto. Rana Flowers is the UNICEF Country Representative in Belize.
Rana Flowers, UNICEF Country Rep., Belize
“If you look into the report what we will see is mixed picture. We certainly see some very positive national trends, which give us good news and a sense of direction, but when we unpack those indicators, we also have a sense of the disparities.”
Those disparities were most glaring between Belize’s ethnic groups. Infant and child mortality rates amongst the Mayas were a whopping thirty-four and forty-six respectively per thousand live births. The national average was twenty-two and twenty-seven. The Spanish speaking population sample showed twenty-five for their infant mortality and thirty-two in children. The numbers were the lowest amongst the English speakers at fifteen and eighteen. In general infant mortality was higher in males than females.
Glen Avilez, Director S.I.B.
“Twenty-two point six percent, almost a quarter of these children zero to five years are stunted; stunted meaning too short for their age. One point six percent, small, are considered wasted, too thin for their height. Children residing in rural areas are more likely to be underweight and stunted and you can think of possible reasons for that compared to their counterparts in the urban areas. Growth retardation is more apparent in children of Mayan decent.”
At sixty-one percent, stunted growth in children of Maya descent was forty points above the national mean. And while usage of toilets connected to sewer systems and septic tanks runs to eighty-one percent in urban areas, sixteen point five percent of households in Toledo were found to have no sanitary facilities and use the bush or fields to dispose of excrement.
Glen Avilez
“Why is that? Those are the kinds of questions that we ask so that we can make the appropriate intervention.”
Rana Flowers
“There are certainly disparities that are coming out and we saw some of that this morning in relation to, in particular, the Toledo district, the exclusion, the access issues that absolutely have to be addressed. Immediately we have information on where we need to put the investment and how we an address that.”
Also needing more attention were the areas of domestic violence and HIV education as only forty percent of the women interviewed had comprehensive knowledge of HIV while a similar percentage had engaged in unprotected sex.
Glen Avilez
“About forty-one percent of women between fifteen and twenty-four years reported during they survey they had sex with non-cohabitating partners in twelve months prior to the MICS. Of those only forty-nine percent used a condom.”
Rana Flowers
“It really does tell us that in terms of the way we are trying to raise awareness we have to change, we have to find something more creative, we have to reach women, men, young people with a very different message that penetrates and gets them to actually protect themselves because clearly, from the information, they are not doing that right now.”
But just as shocking were numbers on domestic violence. When women were asked how justified a husband was in beating his wife, thirteen percent said it was okay if the woman was cheating.
Glen Avilez
“Eight point six percent that if the wife neglected the children she deserved a beating; if she squandered the money, five percent; if she argues with him, three point eight percent said so and two point percent said that if she burnt the food a beating was in order.”
And while many of the numbers were enough to get anyone depressed, there was some good news.
Rana Flowers
“In terms of national averages, we see some very good trends, we saw some very positive trends. I think in terms of education, access, attendance at primary education, in skilled birth attendance, attending to mothers.”
Immunization coverage was high for the individual vaccines, although only fifty-six point three percent of children had received all eight before their first birthday. In the area of water and sanitation, ninety-six percent of the population use improved drinking water sources and thirty-one point seven percent consumed bottled water as their main source of drinking water.
But data is just that: data … unless it is translated into action. And that’s what SIB and UNICEF want policymakers and stakeholders to do.
Rana Flowers
“A report such as this is useless unless we use the data in there, unless we ensure that that data becomes the grounding, the foundation for our policies and so I would like to conclude this morning by in fact calling on all the political parties in Belize as they develop their manifestoes, as they prepare their policies to present to the population that they consider this data, that they use the information cleverly and wisely to direct policies that really will impact and make a difference for the women and children of Belize.”
To facilitate that process, the findings of the survey will be forwarded to the relevant agencies, both in and out of government. Kendra Griffith reporting for News Five.
Another major finding coming out of the survey was the role of education in relation to the health of children. Those whose mothers had a higher education were less likely to be underweight, stunted, and had lower mortality rates. The only area in which higher education did not have a greater advantage was in breastfeeding where it was determined that mothers who did not practice exclusive breastfeeding were mainly from urban areas and had higher levels of education.
