Migration and Child Mortality in Rural Nyanza Province: Evidence from Kisumu Health Demographic Surveillance System (KHDSS) in Western Kenya

Kubaje Adazu, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Daniel Feiken, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Peter Ofware, Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI)
Bernard Onyango, Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI)
Kayla Laserson, Centers for Disease control and Prevention
John M Vulule, Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI)

We used longitudinal data from the Kisumu Health and Demographic Surveillance System (KHDSS) and event history models to examine the relative risk of death associated with migration of young children from urban and rural settings into the surveillance area. The Demographic Surveillance Area (DSA) is situated in Nyanza Province, one of the Provinces with the worst child survival outcomes in Kenya. The area is also characterized by high population mobility, high mortality, low life expectancy at birth, and wide spread poverty. The existence of urban-rural child mortality differentials in Kenya raises the question whether migrating from urban settings into the study area could be detrimental to the health and survival of young children. The empirical evidence from the results of our analyses however did not support the hypothesis that child migration could be detrimental to the survival of children. This is especially true of children who have moved into the surveillance area from urban settings