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Child mortality 'at record low' Child mortality 'at record low'
(about 8 hours later)
Fewer children under five worldwide are dying than ever before, according to the United Nations Children's Fund, due to increased immunisation. Fewer children under the age of five are dying thanks to immunisation programmes and anti-malaria measures, the UN children's agency, Unicef, says.
Greater steps have also been taken to prevent the spread of malaria, a Unicef report says. Worldwide, the number of young children who died in 2006 dropped below 10 million for the first time, it said.
But nearly 10 million children under five died in 2006, the report adds. Measles vaccinations, mosquito nets and increased rates of breast-feeding were said to have contributed to the fall.
The Millennium Development Goal of reducing child mortality by two-thirds by 2015 could be met by Latin America and the Caribbean, Unicef says. However, experts said most of the deaths were preventable and that more needed to be done.
This slowing in the rate of child deaths, from 13 million in 1990, to 9.7 million in 2006, is due to a combination of factors, including better immunisation, more mothers breastfeeding and mosquito nets being used to prevent the spread of malaria. The Unicef figures are based on government-conducted surveys in more than 50 countries in 2005 and 2006.
The decline in the numbers of children dying was particularly marked in Morocco, Vietnam and the Dominican Republic, where the number dying dropped by a third. 'Historic moment'
China has seen a drop from 45 deaths for every 1,000 lives in 1990 to 24 in 2006, while in India the drop was from 115 to 76. Unicef said 9.7 million children under five died in 2006, down from almost 13 million in 1990.
In sub-Saharan Africa deaths from measles have been reduced by 75% due to increased vaccination coverage. The decline was particularly marked in Morocco, Vietnam and the Dominican Republic, where the number of children dying dropped by a third, Unicef said.
Doubts cast The Latin American and Caribbean region is on course to achieve the millennium development goal of reducing child mortality by two-thirds by 2015 - it registered 27 deaths on average for every 1,000 live births in 2006, compared with 55 in 1990.
"This is an historic moment," said Unicef executive director Ann Veneman. MORTALITY RATE FACTS Worldwide: 72 per 1,000 live birthsDeveloped world: 6China: 24India: 74Latin America and Caribbean: 27West and central Africa: 186Source: Unicef
We are not doing better at reducing child mortality now than we were three decades ago Christopher Murray, University of Washington The majority of deaths occurred in sub-Saharan Africa (4.8 million) and south Asia (3.1 million).
"More children are surviving today than ever before. Now we must build on this public health success to push for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals." Rates were highest in west and central Africa, where HIV and Aids are prevalent.
But some experts questioned Unicef's interpretation of the data. Ann Veneman, Unicef's executive director, said that dropping below 10 million was an historic moment, but warned that most of the deaths were preventable.
"Considering all the tools we have for child survival, we are not doing better at reducing child mortality now than we were three decades ago," Dr. Christopher Murray, director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington told Associated press agency. "We know that lives can be saved when children have access to integrated, community-based health services, backed by a strong referral system," she said.
Nearly five million under fives from sub-Saharan Africa died in 2006 as well as three million from South Asia. Peter Salama, Unicef's head of global health, called on the global community to invest another $5bn (£2.4bn) to help the UN achieve its millennium development goals.
The spread of HIV and Aids continues to claim children's lives in Africa countering the effects of better medicine for other childhood illnesses. Millions of deaths could be prevented using currently available health measures, Mr Salama said.
The authors of this report say most child deaths are preventable. What is needed is better local health care, they say. Among these were campaigns to increase childhood immunisations, the distribution of vitamin A supplements and mosquito nets treated with insecticides, drug treatments for children infected with HIV.
In sub-Saharan Africa, deaths from measles have been reduced by 75% due to increased vaccination coverage.
In Vietnam, child mortality dropped by about 40% after 30,000 people were trained as health workers and paid to treat people in their own villages, Unicef said.
Convincing mothers to exclusively breastfeed their children for the first six months of life was also important, the agency said.