Baby mortality rate quadruples in Ethiopia's Tigray region

In Ethiopia's embattled Tigray region, the death rate of babies dying in their first month of life is four times the rate before the war, according to a recent study.

The most common causes were prematurity, infections and perinatal asphyxia, or the inability to establish breathing at birth.

"So, we can say that the under-five mortality during war time doubled compared to the pre-war era. In unit mortality, means the death of a child in units in the first 28 days of life, also quadrupled as compared to the pre-war era from around 10 (deaths, ed.), according to studies in Tigray in 2020, to around 36 (deaths, ed.)", said Dr. Bereket Berhe, Pediatrician at Ayder Referral Hospital.

Almost two years have passed since the war started and Ethiopia's government isolated the Tigray region from the rest of the world, severing basic services such as electricity, phone, internet and banking.

Both sides have been invited to African Union-mediated peace talks this weekend in South Africa.