(PNAN) – “Today’s news is very encouraging. It means that UNICEF and its partners are making many significant inroads against the gravest threats to children,” said President and CEO of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF Caryl Stern. “However, we must remain vigilant if we are to reach the end goal of zero children dying of preventable causes. The unnecessary death of even one child is unacceptable. Now, more than ever, is the time to apply lessons learned from our successes so we may better serve those children in greatest need.” The latest United Nations under-5 mortality estimates show continued progress in reducing the number of children who don’t live to see their fifth birthdays.
According to these estimates, the total number of under-5 deaths decreased globally from 1990 to 2009 from 12.4 million per year to 8.1 million. The global under-5 mortality rate has dropped by 1/3 over that period, from 89 deaths per 1,000 live births to 60 in 2009. The good news is that these estimates suggest 12,000 fewer children are dying each day around the world compared to 1990. However some 22,000 children under 5 still die each day, with some 70% of these deaths occurring in the first year of the child’s life.
Under-5 mortality is increasingly concentrated in a few countries. About half of global deaths occurred in just 5 countries in 2009: India, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Pakistan and China. On the other hand, the highest rates continue to be found in sub-Saharan Africa, where one in 8 children dies before their fifth birthday, which is nearly 20 times the average for developed regions (one in 167). Southern Asia has the second highest rates, with about one in 14 children dying before age 5.
Give so the Zero can be achieved – www.unicefusa.org/campaigns/believe-in-zero/donate – and remember a little goes a long way.