Given its geographical, socio-economic, ethnic and cultural diversity,
Cameroon offers an excellent setting for investigating the contributi
on of geographical and socioeconomic factors to mortality differences
in infancy and childhood. Such research is crucial for designing appro
priate health policies at the national and regional levels. Using data
from a nationally representative sample of more than 12,000 births, t
his study assesses infant and child mortality differences in Cameroon
by residence area,mother's education, ethnicity, marital status and un
ion type, religion and the interplay of those factors on differentials
mortality. The most vulnerable groups of children in the country are:
rural residents; residents of the East, North and South-West regions;
Kaka-Baya and Fulbe-Fulani children; and children whose mothers have
no education, are Traditionalists, are unmarried, or are in polygamous
unions. lack of maternal schooling alone explains all the excess chil
dhood mortality of Fulbe-Fulani children, most of the excess mortality
of children of the North and East regions, most of the excess mortali
ty of the countryside vis-a-vis the metropolitan areas of Yaounde and
Douala, and most of the excess mortality of children of Traditionalist
s. The robustness of the excess neonatal mortality of newborns in the
East region probably reflects the higher prevalence of tetanus in that
region compared to the rest of the country. The study also suggests t
hat the place/region of residence in Cameroon is likely to be a proxy
for inequalities in the provision of and/or use of health services.