Infant mortality reaches 14.4 for every thousand live births
According to the IBGE, the best Brazilian states' indicators are still far from developed countries, like Japan and Finland, where the rate is two deaths for every thousand live births. 
In the country, on average, 14.4 children died under one year for every thousand live births in 2014. The figures were disclosed today (Dec. 1) by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), and included in Brazil's Complete Table for Mortality.
The state of Amapá, in the country's north, posted the extreme value of statistics, the rate stood at 23.7. On the other extreme, Espírito Santo posted 9.6. The states of Maranhão (23.5), Alagoas (22.4), Rondônia (20.8), Piauí (20.4), and Amazonas (19.4) also reached infant mortality rates twice as high as Espírito Santo's rate.
Santa Catarina (9.8), Paraná (10.1), and Rio Grande do Sul (10.2), all states from the South region, ranked second, third and, fourth in the national ranking.
According to the IBGE, the best Brazilian states' indicators are still far from developed countries, like Japan and Finland, where the rate is two deaths for every thousand live births. Other developing countries, like China and Russia, have also posted lower rates than the Brazilian average, standing at 10.6 and 7.8, respectively, for every thousand live births.
IBGE's historical series show that infant mortality rate has dropped more than 90% over the 20th century and beginning of the 21st century, and has posted now its lowest level. In 1940, 146.6 children died under one year for every thousand live births. In 2000, the 20th century ended posting a rate of 29 for every thousand. By the end of the first 21st century's decade, in 2010, the country's infant mortality reached 17.2 for every thousand live births.
Translated by Amarílis Anchieta
Fonte: Infant mortality reaches 14.4 for every thousand live births
