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Wealth, health and the cycle of progress 13
Table 3 Infant mortality (200 59.1 21.4 12.7 7.1 c
Russia 97.5 27.7 23.7 16.0
China 195.0 61.1 50.0 33.0
India 190.0 132 94.5 63.0
Developing countries 179.8 104.7 77.9 62.4 c
Sub-Saharan Africa 177.0 134.2 112.4 101.0
World >200 156.9 93.2 70.4 56.8
a Data are for the year(s) shown in brackets.
b Many developing countries, e.g., India and China, had barely embarked upon
industrialization until after World War II.
c Based on UNPD (2004).
d Based on World Bank (2005b).
Sources: Mitchell (1992); Hill (1995); UNPD (2004); World Bank (2005b)
However, they have rebounded in the former region, as well as in
many countries in the former Soviet Union (World Bank, 2005b).
Life expectancies have dropped much more dramatically since
the late 1980s in a number of Sub-Saharan countries, due to a
vicious cycle involving new and resurgent diseases, particularly,
malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, and a drop in economic output
(UNDP, 2000). No country for which data are readily available has
had a steeper decline than Zambia.
Infant mortality
Before industrialization, at least one out of every five children died
before reaching his or her first birthday. As Table 3 shows, infant
mortality, measured as the number of children dying before reaching