International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics

The infant mortality rate in Manitoba, central Canada, is more than twice the Canadian average, a new extensive study has revealed.

Even if mothers have access to sophisticated healthcare facilities in this area, which has a predominantly First Nations (indigenous) population, the number of infant deaths does not improve, reports CBC Canada.

According to the report, which was published in the Journal of Rural Health, the infant mortality rate declined in the non-First Nations population living closer to cities. However, the same could not be said of the indigenous people.

"First Nations infants do not seem to have similarly benefited from the better healthcare facilities in urban centres," the news provider quoted the report as saying.

"We speculate that access to and effective use of the better healthcare facilities available in urban areas may be inadequate for First Nations women and children."

In 2006, there were more than one million First Nations, Metis and Inuit people in Canada. The indigenous population grew by 45 per cent between 1996 and 2006, according to the latest data available from Statistics Canada.

Posted by Paul Robertson