SOME CORRELATES OF CHILD-MORTALITY IN THE REFUGEE POPULATED REGIONS IN TANZANIA

Data from the 1988 Tanzania census were used to examine child mortalit y in three regions populated with Burundi refugees. Logistic and least squares analyses show that for both Tanzanian nationals and refugees low levels of maternal education are associated with high child mortal ity levels. Children born to mothers who are housewives are associated with low levels of mortality compared to those born to employed mothe rs, though the results were not statistically significant for the refu gees. Maternal demographic status, computed from age and parity, has a strong effect on child survival. Unexpectedly, child mortality was lo wer where the water source was a well outside the village. Tanzanian m others who are at highest risk of childbearing are roughly 6-4 times m ore likely to have a child death than those at lowest risk; the corres ponding figure for the refugees is 36-8. This emphasises the need to i ntensify family planning programmes in these regions.