Poor states make headway in reducing child mortality

Poor states make headway in reducing child mortality
KARACHI, Jan 22: Though the total number of annual deaths among children below five fell below 10 million, to 9.7 million, in 2007, the world is not yet on track to achieve the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target of a two-thirds reduction in the rate of their mortality by 2015, says the latest Unicef report ‘The State of the World’s Children 2008’.This was for the first time in recent history that the child mortality rate showed a 60 per cent drop since 1960.The countries which have made progress included China where under-five mortality rate has declined from 45 deaths for every 1,000 live births to 24 per 1,000, a reduction of 47 per cent since 1990. The rate in India has declined by 34 per cent.Though the number of deaths dropped by 50 per cent or more since 1990 in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Bolivia, Eritrea, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Nepal, under-five mortality rates in these countries remain high. While Ethiopia achieved nearly a 40 per cent cut since 1990.However, the report says, there is no room for complacency as half of the world’s regions are making insufficient progress towards MGD4 concerning reduction in child mortality. Everyday, on average, more than 26,000 children under the age of five die around the world, mostly from preventable causes.Nearly all of them live in the developing world, or more precisely, in 60 developing countries. More than one third of these children die during the first month of their life, usually at home and without access to essential health services."Meeting MGD4 implies that during the next seven years the number of child deaths must be cut in half to fewer than 13,000 child deaths per day or fewer than five million per year. The enormity of challenge should not be underestimated. The world will have to reduce the number of child deaths between 2008 and 2015 at a faster rate than it has managed since 1990," it says.According to the report, of the 62 countries making no progress or insufficient progress towards the MDG on child survival, nearly 75 per cent are in Africa. In some countries in southern Africa, the prevalence of HIV and AIDS has reversed previously recorded declines in child mortality.The reports also highlights that neonatal mortality accounts for almost 40 per cent of all under-five deaths and for nearly 60 per cent of infant (under-one deaths).The largest absolute number of deaths occurs in South Asia India contributes a quarter of the world total but the highest national rates of neonatal mortality occur in sub-Saharan Africa. South Asia also has the highest level of under-nutrition among its regions."A common factor in these deaths in the health of the mother each year more than 500,000 women die in childbirth or from complications during pregnancy, and babies whose mothers have died during childbirth have a much greater chance of dying in their first year than those whose mothers remain alive," the reports points out.According to the latest estimates of 2000-2006, at present in the developing world, one quarter of pregnant women do not receive even a single visit from skilled health personnel; only 59 per cent of births take place with the assistance of a skilled attendant; and just over half take place in a health facility.Recently, a package of 16 proven interventions was identified that could avert up to 72 per cent of all newborn deaths. These include tetanus toxoid immunization, skilled attendants at birth, access to obstetric care, immediate and exclusive breastfeeding, drying and keeping newborns warm, access to resuscitation, if needed, special care of low-birth weight infants and treatment of infection, the report states.It adds that the timing of these packaged interventions can be crucial.The report also makes a strong case of empowering and educating women and mentions it as a key factor both to lowering the number of deaths among children under five and to reaching MDG5 which aims to cut maternal mortality by three quarters by 2015."It is also well known that when are in charge of household finances, they tend to spend a larger portion of the household budget on food and other necessities for children. For these reasons, giving women the means to become more economically self-reliant will likely to have positive spin-offs for children," it says.
(Courtesy Daily Dawn)