PHM-Exch> CHILD DEATHS DROP BY NEARLY 30 PER CENT, SAYS UN HEALTH AGENCY

[Claudio Schuftan]

From: Vern Weitzel <vern.weitzel at gmail.com>
crossposted from: "[health-vn discussion group]" health-vn at anu.edu.au


CHILD DEATHS DROP BY NEARLY 30 PER CENT, SAYS UN HEALTH AGENCY
New York, May 21 2009 11:00AM
Deaths of children under five years of age have plummeted by almost one
third
since 1990, the United Nations World Health Organization
(<"http://www.who.int/en/">WHO)
<"
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/notes/2009/millennium_development_goals_20090521/en/index.html
">said
today, while cautioning that greater action is necessary to achieve similar
success in other areas, in particular maternal and newborn health.

Some 9 million children under the age of five died in 1997, marking a sharp
decline from the 12.5 million estimated to have died in 1990, according to
“World Health Statistics,” WHO’s first progress report on the health-related
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – the eight globally-agreed anti-poverty
targets with a 2015 deadline.

"The decline in the death toll of children under five illustrates what can
be
achieved by strengthening health systems and scaling up interventions, such
as
insecticide-treated mosquito nets for malaria and oral rehydration therapy
for
diarrhoea, increased access to vaccines and improved water and sanitation in
developing countries,” said Ties Boerma, Director of WHO’s Department of
Health
Statistics and Informatics.

But the new study, which is based on over 100 health indicators collected
from
WHO’s 193 Member States, cautioned that in many African nations and in
low-income countries, the fourth MDG – slashing child mortality by
two-thirds –
may not be met.

Dr. Boerma said that while encouraging progress has been made at the
half-way
point to the 2015 deadline, “there needs to be more effort to strengthen
health
systems in countries affected by high levels of HIV/AIDS, economic hardship
or
conflict.”

Additionally, he called for greater attention to be paid to the poorest
groups
within countries where progress is slowest and child mortality remains high.

Maternal and newborn health has seen almost no improvement, Dr. Boerma said,
with nearly 40 per cent of deaths among children under five occurring in the
first month, even first week, of life. “While the data are patchy and
incomplete, it appears that the regions with the least progress are those
where
levels of maternal mortality are highest.”

Boosting these rates will involve addressing weak health systems, emerging
health threats such as pandemics, and climate change, he added.
________________

For more details go to UN News Centre at http://www.un.org/news
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