From: Yemane Natnael (yemane_natnael@yahoo.com)
Date: Fri Sep 12 2008 - 10:49:54 EDT
Child Deaths Continue to Decline, Reaching Record Low
UNICEF Calls for Increased Efforts to Save Children's Lives
NEW YORK and GENEVA, Sept 12, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ --
UNICEF today
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."
http://sev.prnewswire.com/health-care-hospitals/20080912/NYF00812092008-1.html
----[This List to be used for Eritrea Related News Only]----