Namibia's infant mortality rate declined by just over 3% over the past two years.

This was revealed by the Ministry of Health and Social Services' Executive Director Ben Nangombe.

The infant mortality rate declined from 27,248 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2023 to 25,414 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2024.

That represents a 3.06% decrease and follows on a 4.3% decline in 2023 from the year prior, according to the Executive Director in the Health Ministry, Ben Nangombe, in response to questions posed to him by NAMPA.

Primary causes of infant mortality, he said, remain prematurity, birth asphyxia, congenital anomalies, infectious diseases, and malnutrition.

Nangombe also stated that the Oshana and Khomas regions continue to record particularly high infant mortality rates.

He said the Oshana and Khomas regions have referral hospitals with access to specialists. Babies are often referred to these regions for advanced care, he adds, but some, he says, may end up dying at the referral hospitals.

Other contributing factors to be considered, he says, include socio-economic disparities, healthcare accessibility, and educational attainment.

The ministry, he says, employs various means to ensure mothers in rural and underserved areas have access to maternal and child healthcare services.

These include mobile health clinics, community health workers, primary healthcare facilities and referral systems, maternal and child health programmes, and public health education.