Socioeconomic determinants of neonatal mortality in Nigeria

Abstract

The need to reduce the rate of neonatal mortality should be of concern to the government and people of Nigeria, considering the fact it is the span of life with the highest risk of survival. This study examined the determinants of neonatal mortality in Nigeria with a focus on the period spanning from 1970-2022. The article begins by explaining how changes in socioeconomic could affect healthcare outcomes, with particular emphasis on neonatal mortality. Annual data on neonatal mortality rate (NNM), gross domestic product per capita (a proxy for income per capita), life expectancy at birth (LEB), Adolescent female literacy rate rate (AFLR) and under-five mortality rate (UD_5) were obtained from the World Bank Development Indicators. The ARDL approach was employed to analyze the specified regression model. The bound test output suggests a long run relationship between the independent variables and neonatal mortality. In addition, the findings show that GDP per capita and life expectancy at birth were inversely related to neonatal mortality in the long run. The findings show that a unit increase in GDP per capita and LEB will cause neonatal mortality to decline by 19% and 18%, respectively. Moreover, the study found that adolescent female literacy rate was negatively associated with neonatal mortality in the short run and not in the long run period. The study concludes that there is the need for more intervention in the area of education for adolescent female children to sustainably enhance its impact on neonatal mortality in the long run. Consequently, the study advocates for targeted female health literacy programmes for adolescent female pupils in low-income urban and rural areas of the country to ensure sustainable reduction in neonatal mortality.