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Infant mortality remained high last year, confirming that Albania continues to have the highest levels in Europe of this phenomenon, which among other things reflects the wide spread of poverty and lack of medical services.
According to State Institute of Statistics (known as INSTAT) , in 2021, 228 babies under the age of 1 lost the battle with their lives from 281 in 2020 with a decrease of 18.8%. Unlike other years, INSTAT this year did not publish the infant mortality rate (one life loss under one year in relation to 1000 live births) due to a methodological change.
"Data on infant mortality can not be compared with previous years as a result of a methodological change in 2021. The time series before 2021 will be subject to review after the Census of Population and Housing 2022" explained INSTAT.
According to the old methodology, the infant mortality rate was 8.3 by 2021. Earlier Experts from the Institute of Public Health who collect and process health statistics have stated that there are some problems in reporting the indicator, according to local reports.
According to official INSTAT figures, in 2021 the biggest cause of fatalities in babies were diseases that appear in the period around birth, or about 44% of all infant fatalities.
The second biggest cause was "complications in pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period." 21% of all fatalities lost their lives from this diagnosis, while 19% were from diseases of the circulatory system, 9.2% were associated with abnormalities, 3.5% from respiratory problems, and 3.5% from other diseases.
According to the guidelines of the World Health Organization, a pregnant woman should have at least four prenatal visits to reduce the risk of stillbirth and pregnancy complications, and the first visit should occur the first 8 to 12 weeks of pregnancy.
The Demographic Health Survey, 2017-'18 (ADHS) which provides detailed information regarding the health of the population, found that the majority of Albanian mothers follow these guidelines, as 78% of them had four or more visits before birth, and 82% of them had their first visit in the first trimester of pregnancy.
Both indicators are higher in urban areas. The percentage who had at least four prenatal visits is 82% in urban areas, compared to 73% in rural areas. The survey found that poverty and education level was an essential element for health services for pregnant women. The survey results show large changes in counties in women who took iron and vitamins during pregnancy. Only 13% of women before giving birth in Kukës received supplements and iron in 2018, compared to 80% of pregnant women in Gjirokastra.