Child Deaths Continue To Decline, Reaching Record Low

Main Category: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Article Date: 13 Sep 2008 - 0:00 PDT

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UNICEF released new figures that show the rate of deaths of children under five continued to decline in 2007.

The new estimates show a 27 per cent decline in the under-five mortality rate, from 93 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1990, to 68 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2007. In industrialized countries there are, on average, just six deaths for every 1,000 live births.

According to this data, 12.7 million children under five died around the world in 1990, and in 2007 child deaths declined to about 9.2 million.

"While progress has been made, much remains to be done," said Caryl Stern, President and CEO of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF. "The loss of 9.2 million young lives each year is still unacceptable. These children are dying for reasons we can prevent. They do not have to die but they do and I believe that number should be zero. No child should die of diseases like malaria, measles, and tetanus. No child should die as a result of drinking unsafe water. And no child should die as a result of malnutrition."

Malnutrition is a contributing cause of more than one-third of the 9.2 million under-five deaths worldwide. While there has also been progress in reducing the percentage of under age five children who are underweight since 1990, an estimated 148 million children in the developing world remain undernourished. To ensure these children have the opportunity to survive, efforts to address the nutritional needs of women, infants, and children must be accelerated.

A number of countries have made particularly good progress in reducing under-five mortality, including Lao PDR, Bangladesh, Bolivia and Nepal, each of which has reduced their under-five mortality rates by more than 50 percent since 1990. These countries are on track to reach the MDG target to reduce by two-thirds reduction the under-five mortality rate between 1990 and 2015.

There has also been significant progress in parts of Africa. Eritrea's under-five mortality rate declined by 52 percent between 1990 and 2007. In Malawi, Mozambique, Niger, and Ethiopia child mortality rates have declined by more than 40 per cent across the same period.

However the highest child mortality is still found in Africa. In Sierra Leone, the country with the worst under-five mortality rate in the world, 262 out of every 1,000 children die before their fifth birthday.

"Through basic health interventions, such as immunizing children, using insecticide-treated nets to prevent malaria, and providing vitamin A supplementation, we can ensure that every child survives," said Stern. "We can ensure that the number of child deaths is zero."

About UNICEF

For more than 60 years, UNICEF has been the world's leading international children's organization, working in over 150 countries to address the ongoing issues that affect why kids are dying. UNICEF provides lifesaving nutrition, clean water, education, protection and emergency response saving more young lives than any other humanitarian organization in the world. While millions of children die every year of preventable causes like dehydration, upper respiratory infections and measles, UNICEF, with the support of partnering organizations and donors alike, has the global experience, resources and reach to give children the best hope of survival. For more information about UNICEF, please visit http://www.unicefusa.org.

U.S. Fund for UNICEF
http://www.unicefusa.org