Spatial Analysis of Infant mortality in the northwest counties of Argentina.2000-2010

Mortality occurring during the first year of life is sensitive to the living conditions and health population. In Argentina, infant mortality (IM) has declined during the twentieth century but it varies considerably by geographic region. In that sense, the reality of the northwestern provinces of Argentina, a region postponed, hides in a country-level. Some authors (2009) claim that the Northern is the poorest region, and they also point that this has not undergone a significant change in recent decades (Bolsi, Longhi, & Paolasso, 2009).
We aim to perform spatial analysis of IM at a county level of that region during 2005 and 2010 detecting the existence of high risk areas which is essential to focus public policies. We use official information on vital statistics of Argentina calculated according to the causes of death, age and sex; we process data in free GIS software. Given spatial analysis of health conditions, can be a valuable tool in assessing the impact of social structures and processes, in determining health events (Barcellos, 2003), what we propose would be a major contribution to targeting and strengthening public policies aimed at reducing IM.