AGE VARIATIONS IN THE PROXIMATE DETERMINANTS OF CHILD-MORTALITY IN SOUTH-WEST NIGERIA

Age variations in the influences of three sets of proximate factors on child survival in Ondo State, Nigeria, during 1981-86 are described. Biodemographic factors covary very strongly with mortality risks durin g the first month of life, weakly during months 1-11, and imperceptibl y beyond infancy. Microenvironmental factors progressively strongly co vary with mortality after the neonatal period, while health services a ccessibility and care factors broadly covary strongly with mortality t hroughout early childhood. Patterns in the size of the hypothetical po pulation-level impacts of these factors suggest that promoting assiste d use of toilet facilities within households by under-5s and wider pro vision of dispensaries and hospitals would yield cost-effective and no table reductions in overall childhood mortality levels in the study se tting.