Infant mortality in Uganda 1955-2020
In 1955, the infant mortality rate in Uganda was 150 deaths per thousand live births, meaning that fifteen percent of all babies born in this year would not survive past their first birthday. Infant mortality would decrease steadily in Uganda in the 1950s and 1960s, as global advancements in healthcare arrived in the country following its independence from the British Empire. However, after falling to 120 deaths per thousand births in 1970, infant mortality would level off at around this rate for much of the 1970s to 1980s, as advancements in healthcare would stall following the beginning of brutal, despotic reign of Idi Amin, as well as the emergence of AIDS in the region. Following the return to a democratic government in 1986, infant mortality in Uganda would begin to fall once more, as the newly re-established government would begin a series of public health programs, most notably a series of mass immunization and vaccination campaigns against measles and polio in the 2010s. Despite these advancements and humanitarian efforts, in 2020 Uganda is estimated to have an infant mortality rate of 46 deaths per thousand newborns, which is actually below the sub-Saharan average.