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Establishing the causes of childhood mortality in Ghana: the 'spirit child'

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  • Allotey, Pascale
  • Reidpath, Daniel

Abstract

Communities in remote regions of northeast Ghana record some of the highest rates of under five mortality in West Africa (23.9 per 1000 children/year (Binka, Maude et al. (1995). International Journal of Epidemiology, 24(1), 127-135). The communities, isolated geographically and culturally from the main tribal groups in Ghana continue to adhere very strongly to traditional beliefs and practices. A qualitative study of both traditional and modern maternal and child health care systems in the area, demonstrated that almost 15% of deaths of infants under 3 months of age were due to a belief in chichuru or spirit children, resulting in infanticide. It is therefore a significant public health problem, which has to be addressed in programs for the control of child mortality. A modification of the verbal autopsy method is proposed to assist in the identification of non-biomedical causes of death.

Suggested Citation

  • Allotey, Pascale & Reidpath, Daniel, 2001. "Establishing the causes of childhood mortality in Ghana: the 'spirit child'," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 52(7), pages 1007-1012, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:52:y:2001:i:7:p:1007-1012
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Denham, Aaron R. & Adongo, Philip B. & Freydberg, Nicole & Hodgson, Abraham, 2010. "Chasing spirits: Clarifying the spirit child phenomenon and infanticide in Northern Ghana," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(3), pages 608-615, August.
    2. Gouda, H.N. & Kelly-Hanku, A. & Wilson, L. & Maraga, S. & Riley, I.D., 2016. "“Whenever they cry, I cry with them”: Reciprocal relationships and the role of ethics in a verbal autopsy study in Papua New Guinea," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 1-9.
    3. D'Ambruoso, Lucia & Byass, Peter & Qomariyah, Siti Nurul & Ouédraogo, Moctar, 2010. "A lost cause? Extending verbal autopsy to investigate biomedical and socio-cultural causes of maternal death in Burkina Faso and Indonesia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(10), pages 1728-1738, November.
    4. Gyimah, Stephen Obeng & Takyi, Baffour K. & Addai, Isaac, 2006. "Challenges to the reproductive-health needs of African women: On religion and maternal health utilization in Ghana," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(12), pages 2930-2944, June.
    5. de Hilari, Caroline & Condori, Irma & Dearden, Kirk A., 2009. "When is deliberate killing of young children justified? Indigenous interpretations of infanticide in Bolivia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 352-361, January.
    6. Gouda, Hebe N. & Flaxman, Abraham D. & Brolan, Claire E. & Joshi, Rohina & Riley, Ian D. & AbouZahr, Carla & Firth, Sonja & Rampatige, Rasika & Lopez, Alan D., 2017. "New challenges for verbal autopsy: Considering the ethical and social implications of verbal autopsy methods in routine health information systems," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 65-74.
    7. Flynn, Susan, 2021. "Convergent identities, compounded risk: Intersectionality and parenting capacity assessment for disabled children," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).

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