To wit, in several SSA countries, the ratio of girls to boys in school is less than 80% (eight girls to every ten boys who have a chance at an education). In Chad, there are 6.4 girls to every 10 boys in primary education; in Guinea-Bissau there are 6.5 girls for every ten boys in school. Child mortality is a horrific problem in SSA: in 30 of the 47 countries the rate of child mortality is at least 1 in ten (for children under 5 years of age). In Sierra Leone, for example 262 out of every 1,000 children die before the age of five (World Bank data).

Maternal health is a very serious problem in SSA; over thirty countries report more than 500 mothers out of every 100,000 either die during pregnancy or during childbirth. There are some frighteningly stark numbers among those 30 countries; to wit, in Sierra...
[ View Full Essay]