WUNRN
CHILD MORTALITY RATES PLUNGE BY MORE THAN HALF SINCE
1990, BUT GLOBAL MDG TARGET MISSED BY WIDE MARGIN
16,000
Children Under 5 Years Old Die Each Day
Direct Link to Full 36-Page
2015 Report: http://www.unicef.org/media/files/IGME_Report_Final2.pdf |
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Photo: A child is given an injection as part of a malaria
vaccine trial at a clinic in the Kenya coastal town of Kilifi. Reuters/Joseph
Okanga |
NEW YORK/GENEVA/WASHINGTON, 9 September 2015 – Child mortality rates have
plummeted to less than half of what they were in 1990, according to a new
report released today. Under-five deaths have dropped from 12.7 million per
year in 1990 to 5.9 million in 2015. This is the first year the figure has gone
below the 6 million mark.
New
estimates in Levels and Trends in Child Mortality Report 2015released
by UNICEF, the World Health Organization, the World Bank Group, and the
Population Division of UNDESA, indicate that although the global progress has
been substantial, 16,000 children under five still die every day. And the 53
per cent drop in under-five mortality is not enough to meet the Millennium
Development Goal of a two-thirds reduction between 1990 and 2015.
“We have
to acknowledge tremendous global progress, especially since 2000 when many
countries have tripled the rate of reduction of under-five mortality,” said
UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Geeta Rao Gupta. “But the far too large number
of children still dying from preventable causes before their fifth birthday –
and indeed within their first month of life – should impel us to redouble our
efforts to do what we know needs to be done. We cannot continue to fail them.”
The report
notes that the biggest challenge remains in the period at or around birth. A
massive 45 per cent of under-five deaths occur in the neonatal period – the
first 28 days of life. Prematurity, pneumonia, complications during labour and
delivery, diarrhoea, sepsis, and malaria are leading causes of deaths of
children under 5 years old. Nearly half of all under-five deaths are associated
with undernutrition.
However,
most child deaths are easily preventable by proven and readily available
interventions. The rate of reduction of child mortality can speed up
considerably by concentrating on regions with the highest levels – sub-Saharan
Africa and Southern Asia – and ensuring a targeted focus on newborns.
“We know
how to prevent unnecessary newborn mortality. Quality care around the time of
childbirth including simple affordable steps like ensuring early skin-to-skin
contact, exclusive breastfeeding and extra care for small and sick babies can
save thousands of lives every year,” noted Dr Flavia Bustreo, Assistant
Director General at WHO. “The Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s
and Adolescents’ Health, to be launched at the UN General
Assembly this month, will be a major catalyst for giving all newborns the best
chance at a healthy start in life.”
The report
highlights that a child’s chance of survival is still vastly different based on
where he or she is born. Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest under-five
mortality rate in the world with 1 child in 12 dying before his or her fifth
birthday – more than 12 times higher than the 1 in 147 average in high-income
countries. In 2000-2015, the region has overall accelerated its annual rate of
reduction of under-five mortality to about two and a half times what it was in
1990-2000. Despite low incomes, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi,
Mozambique, Niger, Rwanda, Uganda, and Tanzania have all met the MDG target.
Sub-Saharan
Africa as a whole, however, continues to confront the immense challenge of a
burgeoning under-five population – projected to increase by almost 30 per cent
in the next 15 years – coupled with persistent poverty in many countries.
“This new
report confirms a key finding of the 2015 Revision of the World
Population Prospects on the remarkable decline in child
mortality globally during the 15-year MDG era,” said UN Under-Secretary-General
for Economic and Social Affairs Mr. Wu Hongbo. “Rapid improvements since 2000
have saved the lives of millions of children. However, this progress will need
to continue and even accelerate further, especially in high-mortality countries
of sub-Saharan Africa, if we are to reach the proposed child survival target of
the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”
“Many
countries have made extraordinary progress in cutting their child mortality
rates. However, we still have much to do before 2030 to ensure that all women
and children have access to the care they need,” said Dr Tim Evans, Senior
Director of Health, Nutrition and Population at the World Bank Group. “The
recently launched Global Financing Facility in Support of Every Woman Every Child with its
focus on smarter, scaled and sustainable financing will help countries deliver
essential health services and accelerate reductions in child mortality.”
Among the
report’s findings:
§ Roughly
one-third of the world’s countries – 62 in all – have actually met the MDG
target to reduce under-five mortality by two-thirds, while another 74 have
reduced rates by at least half.
§ The world
as a whole has been accelerating progress in reducing under-five mortality –
its annual rate of reduction increased from 1.8 per cent in 1990-2000 to 3.9
per cent in 2000-2015.
§ 10 of the
12 low income countries which have reduced under-five mortality rates by at
least two-thirds are in Africa. 5 in 10 global under-five deaths occur in
sub-Saharan Africa and another 3 in 10 occur in Southern Asia.
§ 45 per cent of all under-five deaths happen during the first 28 days of life. 1 million neonatal deaths occur on the day of birth, and close to 2 million children die in the first week of life.