Myint, Nyan
Description
In Burma, levels of fertility and mortality are usually estimated directly using the data from the
incomplete vital registration. These estimates, of course, are under-estimates and fertility and
mortality are the areas for further research in Burma. Thus, the main purpose of this study is to
estimate the levels and trends of fertility and mortality in Burma.
Although the Governments of Burma have never intervened in the fertility attitude of the people,
the former socialist Government...[Show more] limited access to any modern methods of contraception. However,
this study shows that a fertility decline started in urban areas in the early 1970s. Moreover, the
levels of fertility in Burma have never exceeded those in India and Bangladesh. Historically, Burma
had lower fertility than India as a whole throughout the pre-War period. The higher age at
marriage, the higher status of women, the higher level of female literacy and the main religion in
Burma, Buddhism, which does not discourage the use of any methods of contraception, are the main
causes of lower fertility in Burma.
Recently, various sources, such as the United Nations, ESCAP, the World Bank and the US Bureau of
the Census, have given quite different estimates of mortality, especially the level of infant
mortality for Burma. Therefore, some indirect estimates of infant and child mortality, using the
data on children ever born and children still living from the 1983 Census, are also made in this
study. The estimates of both infant and general mortality derived in this study are much higher
than both the Government's official estimates and the United Nations estimates.
Moreover, this study shows that mortality has declined substantially since the mid-1950s, and the
decline was much more faster in urban areas than in rural areas. However, it has apparently slowed
down in recent years. The levels of mortality were much lower in Burma than in India throughout the
pre-War period, and still lower than in India and Bangladesh but higher than in Thailand.
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