Community-based infant and child mortality rates for peri-urban Pietermaritzburg.

Infant and child mortality rates outside of hospital practice are not widely available for the black population of the RSA, since identification and recording of births and deaths within the community has not been widely established. This community-based study of peri-urban Pietermaritzburg is compared with similar studies covering other areas of the RSA. The recent literature is evaluated with a view to determining possible approaches to reducing mortality rates among infants and children under 5 years in the RSA.