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South Africa Investigates Spate of Infant Deaths
"A team of experts is to be set up to investigate the situation and come back with recommendations on how such incidents could be averted in the future," health ministry spokesman Fidel Hadebe said.
The Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital in the rural town of Mthatha has recorded the highest number of deaths.
"The director general of the ministry has visited the hospital and is going back again on Thursday. We will leave no stone unturned," said Hadebe.
Local health authorities have linked most of the 181 infant deaths to HIV, where mothers did not have access to anti-AIDS drugs during pregnancy.
Provincial health chief Phumulo Masualle said the mortality rate was "unacceptably high" but that most of the Mthatha deaths were among premature babies.
South Africa generally has a high infant mortality rate, with 44 babies dying out of every 1,000 born. That is among the lowest rates in Africa, but very high compared to developed countries. In Sweden the rate is 3.2 per 1,000.
Masualle said many HIV-positive mothers went to antenatal clinics when it was too late to receive an effective course of drugs that prevent transmission to newborns.
South Africa has the world's biggest HIV caseload, with 5.7 percent of the 48 million population carrying the virus. After years of delays in rolling out anti-AIDS drugs, South Africa now has the world's biggest treatment programme.
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