[Regional characteristics of infant mortality].

Causes and risk factors of infant mortality were analysed in 10 republics of the USSR and in Moscow. Common and local risk factors of infant mortality were delineated, which include medico-biological++, socio-hygienic++, and medico-organizational++ factors. The differences are shown both between the causes and risk factors and between the causal, age--related, hi and nosological patterns of infant mortality. Data on preterm infant morbidity and mortality are presented, and recommendations on its reduction for regions with its low, median, and high levels are given. Groups of preventive fatal outcomes form the main reserve for reduction of infant mortality; in different regions these groups make up from 40 to 50%. Solving the medical socioeconomic tasks is essential for successful reduction of infant mortality.