Indicator 3.2.1 Under‐5 mortality rate

SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

3.2 By 2030, end preventable deaths of new born and children under 5 years of age, with all countries aiming to reduce neonatal mortality to at least as 12 as low as 12 per 1,000 live births and under-5 mortality to at least as low as 25 per 1,000 live births.

3.2.1 Under-five mortality rate per 100,000 population

Under-five mortality rate

23 June 2021

Lao Statistics Bureau

Mr.Vilaysook SISOULATH

Department of Social Statistics

Deputy Director General

+856 20 55 795 043

+856 21 214 740

N/A

vilaysooks@gmail.com

lstats@lsb.gov.la

Definition:

Under-five mortality is the probability of a child born in a specific year or period dying before reaching the age of 5 years, if subject to age specific mortality rates of that period, expressed per 1,000 live births.

Concepts:

The under-five mortality rate as defined here is, strictly speaking, not a rate (i.e. the number of deaths divided by the number of population at risk during a certain period of time), but a probability of death derived from a life table and expressed as a rate per 1000 live births.

per 1,000 live births

The Lao Social Indicator Survey

The Lao Social Indicator Survey II (LSIS II) was carried out in 2017 by Lao Statistics Bureau (LSB) in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education and Sport, as part of the Global Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) Programme. Data are collected through household survey-anthropometric measurement.

Sampling approach: Two-stage, stratified cluster sampling.

Questionnaires:

Type of interview: Face-to-face. MICS survey utilized Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) starting in 2017 round.

Fieldwork duration: 06 July to 06 November 2017

Data processing. The data collection application was based on the CSPro (Census and Survey Processing System) software, Version 6.3, including a MICS dedicated data management platform. Procedures and standard programs2 developed under the global MICS programme and adapted to the LSIS II, 2017 questionnaire were used throughout. The CAPI application was tested in Vientiane Capital and Vientiane Province in January. Based on the results of the CAPI-test, modifications were made to the questionnaires and application.

Training: Training for the fieldwork was conducted for 31 days between June and July 2017. Training included lectures on interviewing techniques and the contents of the questionnaires, and mock interviews between trainees to gain practice in asking questions. Participants first completed full training on paper questionnaires, followed by training on the CAPI application. The trainees spent three days in field practice and one day on a full pilot survey in Vientiane province. The training agenda was based on the standard MICS6 training agenda.

Enumerators (data collectors) received dedicated training on anthropometric measurements and water quality testing for a total of seven days, including three days in field practice and pilot survey. Field Supervisors attended additional training on the duties of team supervision and responsibilities.

Fieldwork: The data were collected by 25 teams; each was comprised of four interviewers, one driver, two measurers and a supervisor. Fieldwork began in July 2017 and concluded in November 2017. Data was collected using tablet computers running the Windows 10 operating system, utilising a Bluetooth data transfer application for field operations, enabling transfer of assignments and completed questionnaires between supervisor’s and interviewer’s tablets.

For detailed methodology, please see the survey report.

(Link provided in the reference section).

Every five years, next collection period will be from July to November 2022

one year after the reference year, next release will be in November 2023

Lao Statistics Bureau

Lao Statistics Bureau

Data collection, processing, dissemination and use of statistics for this indicator is in accordance with the Statistics Law 2017; the National Strategy for Sustainable Development of Statistical System (NSSDSS) 2016-2020; and the Vision for 2030.

Mortality rates among young children are a key output indicator for child health and well-being, and, more broadly, for social and economic development. It is a closely watched public health indicator because it reflects the access of children and communities to basic health interventions such as vaccination, medical treatment of infectious diseases and adequate nutrition.

Estimates are derived from censuses, and surveys. The methods used for Lao PDR are as follows:

Census and surveys: An indirect method is used based on a summary birth history, a series of questions asked of each woman of reproductive age as to how many children she has ever given birth to and how many are still alive. The Brass method and model life tables are then used to obtain an estimate of under-five and infant mortality rates. Censuses often include questions on household deaths in the last 12 months, which can be used to calculate mortality estimates.

Surveys: A direct method is used based on a full birth history, a series of detailed questions on each child a woman has given birth to during her lifetime. Neonatal, post-neonatal, infant, child and under-five mortality estimates can be derived from the full birth history module.

Standard data review and validation protocols were implemented from data collection, processing, calculation to finalization and publication of the results of the survey.

Likewise, consultation process with line ministries and partner agencies on the national data submitted for the SDGs Indicators were conducted prior to the publication of results

Managing the quality of the indicator is guided by the Lao PDR Statistics Law of 2017 and in accordance with the recommendations of the UN Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics

Team supervisors were responsible for the daily monitoring of fieldwork. Mandatory re-interviewing was implemented on one household per cluster. Daily observations of interviewer skills and performance was conducted. During the fieldwork period, each team was visited multiple times by survey management team members and field visits were arranged.

Throughout the fieldwork, field check tables (FCTs) were produced weekly for analysis and action with field teams. The FCTs were customized versions of the standard tables produced by the MICS Programme.

These steps are taken to ensure quality of outputs produced is at par with international standards.

In general, the quality of the survey results is considered high given the quality management and standards implemented along with the high response rates for all age groups covered in the basic data source used for obtaining the value for this SDG indicator.

LSIS has been conducted at five-year intervals since 2011-2012. Hence, data are available for 2012 and 2017.

Breakdown/disaggregation: by Location (Urban/Rural) and Wealth Quintile.

The Lao Social Indicator Survey II, 2017
https://www.unicef.org/laos/media/306/file/LSIS2017ENG.pdf

The UNSD SDG Indicators, Metadata repository https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/

Lao PDR Statistics Law, 2017
https://www.lsb.gov.la