Infant mortality measurement and rate of progress on international commitments; a matter of methods or of guarantees of rights? Some evidence in Argentina

MARÍA MARTA SANTILLAN PIZARRO, ELEONORA ROJAS CABRERA, DORA CELTON

Current perspectives in mortality research

Ben Gurion University of the Negev

Lugar: Beer Sheva; Año: 2012;

Infant mortality is considered to be one of the greatest expressions of social injustice. Thus, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1989 urges adhering states to take the necessary steps to reduce it progressively and upon the guarantee of equal opportunities. Said intention is supported by a series of subsequent international conferences, in which specific goals of reduction, both in the level as well as in the differences between social sectors, are laid down. Among them: The World Summit for Children in 1990, the International Conference on Population and Development in 1994, the Millennium Summit in 2000 and the Special Session on Children in 2002. Argentina adheres to both the CRC and the subsequent conferences, adopting the goals about level the same way as they were laid down internationally. However, as far as the goals of inter-sector gaps reduction are concerned, it reduces their requirements. Results show that, from 1990, the country manages to reduce the level of infant mortality, although it does not reach all the goals agreed upon before the international community. What is worse is the situation regarding the fulfillment of equality goals, where, according to the method and degree of disaggregation being used, results may vary, showing, at times, that disparities, far from shrinking, increase. This means non-compliance with the commitments agreed upon in the frame of children´s rights, a situation that becomes more aggravated, in particular, when the topic of preventable deaths is addressed.