a220  1249  16 Sep 86
AM-Infant Mortality,0483
US Ranked 17th Best on Infant Mortality in 1982
Eds: For release at 6:30 p.m. EDT
    WASHINGTON (AP) - Finland, other Scandinavian countries, Japan and
Switzerland posted the best records and the United States was 17th,
according to United Nations and other official statistics released
Tuesday.
    Finland posted an infant mortality rate of 6.0, meaning there were
six deaths of infants below age 1 for each 1,000 live births in 1982.
Japan was second with a 6.6 rate, Sweden third with 6.8, Switzerland
fourth with 7.7, Norway fifth with 8.1 and Denmark sixth at 8.2.
    The United States was more than halfway down the list with an 11.5
rate.
    ''Much of the variation in infant mortality rates can likely be
attributed to differences in pre- and postnatal care,'' said Carl
Haub, demographer for the private Population Reference Bureau that
amassed the statistics.
    Haub said prenatal care is encouraged and subsidized in much of
Europe. As a result, he said, Swedish women average 16 visits to the
doctor during their pregnancies, compared with 11.7 visits by
American women. In the United States, 20 percent of white mothers and
38 percent of black mothers did not see a physician in their first
three months of pregnancy.
    Haub said a higher proporation of low birthweight babies probably
contributed to the lower U.S. performance. In this country, just
under 7 percent of babies are classified as low birthweight - 2,500
grams, or less than 5 1/2 pounds - compared with 4 percent in Sweden.
    In some cases, Haub said, black-white differences affected the U.S.
standing. The United States would have been in 12th place at a rate
of 10.1 deaths if only whites were counted. The mortality rate for
black infants was 19.6 percent, and the proportion of black
low-birthweight babies was double that of whites.
    Although the Population Reference Bureau did not include them in
Tuesday's report, previous studies showed that the Soviet Union had
an infant mortality rate of 31 per 1,000 live births and China a rate
of 50.
    Here are the rankings for the nations surveyed:
    1. Finland 6.0
    2. Japan 6.6
    3. Sweden 6.8
    4. Switzerland 7.7
    5. Norway 8.1
    6. Denmark 8.2
    7. Netherlands 8.3
    8. Taiwan 8.9
    9. Canada 9.1
    10. France 9.3
    11. Spain 9.6
    12. Australia 10.3
    13. Ireland 10.5
    14. West Germany 10.9
    15. United Kingdom 11.0
    16. East Germany 11.4
    17. United States 11.5
    18. Belgium 11.6
    19. New Zealand 11.8
    20. Italy 12.7
    21. (tie) Austria 12.8
    Brunei 12.8
    23. (tie) Malta 13.9
    Israel 13.9
    25. Greece 15.1
    26. Czechoslovakia 16.2
    27. Puerto Rico 17.2
    28. Cuba 17.3
    29. Bulgaria 18.2
    30. Costa Rica 19.3
    
AP-NY-09-16-86 1548EDT
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