Wikipedia

Child mortality

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Child mortality refers to the death of infants and children under the age of five. About 26,000 young children die every day, mainly from preventable causes.[1] In 2006, 9.7 million children under five died, a 60% decline since 1960. About half of child deaths occur in Africa. Approximately 60 countries make up 94% of under five child deaths.[2]


According to an estimate by UNICEF, one million child deaths could be prevented annually at a cost of $US 1 billion per year (an average of $US 1000 for each child).[3] Reduction of child mortality is the fourth of the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals.


Causes of Child Mortality

According to UNICEF[4], most child deaths (and 70% in developing countries)[5] result from one the following five causes or a combination thereof:

Two-thirds of child deaths are preventable.[6] Malnutrition and the lack of safe water and sanitation contribute to half of all these children’s deaths. Research and experience show that most of the children who die each year could be saved by low-tech, evidence-based, cost-effective measures such as vaccines, antibiotics, micronutrient supplementation, insecticide-treated bed nets, improved family care and breastfeeding practices [7], and oral rehydration therapy[8].

Child Mortality Rate

The under-five mortality rate or child mortality rate is the number of children who die by the age of five, per thousand live births. In 2006, the world average was 72 (7.2%). The average in developing countries was 79 (down from 103 in 1990), whereas the average in industrialized countries was 6 (down from 10 in 1990). One in six children in Sub-Saharan Africa die before their fifth birthday. The biggest improvement between 1990 and 2006 was in Latin America and the Caribbean, which cut their child mortality rates by 50%.[9]

A child in Sierra Leone, which has the world's highest child mortality rate (270)[10] is almost 100 times more likely to die than one born in Sweden (with a rate of 3).[11]

Highest Rates in the World

In 2006, there were 41 countries in which at least 10% of children under five died. All but three were in Africa. Ten of the 41 had higher rates of child mortality than in 1990, and four were exactly the same. The worst 20 were: [12]

In deaths per thousand

  1. Sierra Leone - 270
  2. Angola - 260
  3. Afghanistan - 257
  4. Niger - 253
  5. Liberia - 235
  6. Mali - 217
  7. Chad - 209
  8. Equatorial Guinea - 206
  9. Democratic Republic of the Congo - 205
  10. Burkina Faso - 204
  11. Guinea-Bissau - 200
  12. Nigeria - 191
  13. Burundi - 181
  14. Zambia - 180
  15. Central African Republic - 175
  16. Swaziland - 164
  17. Guinea - 161
  18. Rwanda - 160
  19. Cameroon - 149
  20. Benin - 148

References

  1. ^ UNICEF - State of the World's Children 2008
  2. ^ The Lancet. Child survival special issue.
  3. ^ UNICEF Facts on Children - May 2008
  4. ^ UNICEF - Health - the big picture
  5. ^ UNICEF - Health
  6. ^ UNICEF - Young child survival and development.
  7. ^ UNICEF MDG Goal 4
  8. ^ New formula for oral rehydration salts will save millions of lives
  9. ^ UNICEF - State of the World's Children 2008
  10. ^ UNICEF - Sierra Leone statistics
  11. ^ UNICEF - Sweden statistics
  12. ^ UNICEF - Info by Country

See also

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