• Mthobisi Mxolisi Zondi, Henry G Mwambi, and Sileshi Fanta Melesse.
• University of KwaZulu-Natal-School of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science, Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
• Afr Health Sci. 2023 Sep 1; 23 (3): 168180168-180.

BackgroundLesotho is in the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) region which aims to reduce the under-five mortality (U5M) to the average of 25 deaths per 1000 live births by the end of 2030 under the sustainable development goals (SDGs) initiative by the United Nations.MethodologyThis paper makes use of the Lesotho Demographic and Health Survey (LDHS dataset, which focuses on female reproductive ages 15-49 and male reproductive ages 15-54 The spatio-temporal models were used in this study to investigate how the proposed covariates change over time.ResultsThe results showed that children who were breastfed had a lower odd of death compared to children who were not breastfed, children from more educated mothers had significantly lower odds of U5M compared to those from less educated mothers. Having a larger number of children under the age of five also contributed significantly to an increased risk of U5M. The likelihood of U5M increased with age.ConclusionThe study recommends that mothers of under-five children be educated about breastfeeding and encouraged to use contraception in order to postpone birth and reduce parity. Rural development should be prioritized through improved primary health care; and public health services should be made more accessible to rural residents.© 2023 Zondi MM et al.

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