Long-term drought and risk of infant mortality in Africa: A cross-sectional study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

As extreme events such as drought and flood are projected to increase in frequency and intensity under climate change, there is still large missing evidence on how drought exposure potentially impacts mortality among young children. This study aimed to investigate the association between drought and risk of infant mortality in Africa, a region highly vulnerable to climate change that bears the heaviest share of the global burden.

Methods and findings

In this cross-sectional study, we obtained data on infant mortality in 34 African countries during 1992-2019 from the Demographic and Health Surveys program. We measured drought by the standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index at a timescale of 24 months and a spatial resolution of 10 × 10 km, which was furt

SUBMITTER: Wang P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11785314 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature