An approach to the socieconomic determinants of infant and child mortality in Bolivia: Use of indirect methods of calculation of mortality and bivariate analysis

Despite significant improvements in child and childhood health outcomes during the XXI Century in Latin America, rates of infant and childhood mortality remain unacceptably high in Bolivia being among the highest in the regio?n, only after Haiti, regarding poor child and childhood health. These results require scientific evidence on the best way to address its determinants. This study approaches theoretically the determinants of infant and childhood mortality in Bolivia focused on individual, household and contextual characteristics using the theoretical framework proposed by Mosley-Chen and Sastry. Furthermore, levels and magnitudes of mortality are preliminarily examined by using direct and indirect methods of estimation using the technique proposed by the Trussell version and Palloni-Heligman version of the method of Brass. Also a bivariate analysis is performed, which shows the relationships between infant and childhood mortality and variables at the household level, individual and contextual related to public policy.