Assessing the Feasibility of Ending All Preventable Under Five Deaths in the Kingdom of Eswatini By 2030

This study uses annual time series data on under five mortality rate (U5MR) for Eswatini from 1960 to 2020 to predict future trends of U5MR over the period 2021 to 2030. Residuals and forecast evaluation criteria indicate that the applied model is stable in forecasting U5MR. The ANN (12, 12, 1) model projections suggest thatU5MR will remain high over the out of sample period. Therefore, we encourage the Kingdom of Eswatini to channel more resources to the maternal and child health (MNCH) program to ensure availability of adequate medical staff and supplies at all levels of healthcare especially primary healthcare facilities in the rural areas.