Child Deaths Down, But Still Too Many: UNICEF
UNITED NATIONS, Jan 22 (OneWorld) - Tens of thousands of children die each day, many because they have no access to simple medical treatments, say the authors of a new study released here Tuesday.
More than one third of them die during their first month, either due to lack of nutrition or lack of proper medical treatment, according to researchers at the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) who prepared the report. The 154-page study is based on a global household survey and statistical information taken from the World Health Organization (WHO) as well as the World Bank. The report's findings suggest that most of the kids who died last year before the age of five could have lived if their parents had unhindered access to proper medical care. "Community-level integration of essential services for mothers and newborns can save the lives of many children," said UNICEF executive director Ann Veneman. In reflecting on the study's results, Veneman stressed that there was a greater need for "sustainable improvement in national health systems" in many parts of the developing world. The UNICEF research shows that a vast majority of children who die before the age of five are born in poor households. The report identifies about 60 countries with extremely high rates of child mortality.
"However, there is no room for complacency," Veneman said. "The loss of 9.7 million young lives each year is unacceptable, especially when many of these deaths are preventable." Reducing child mortality by two thirds by the year 2015 is one of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that world leaders agreed on at a summit in New York some eight years ago. But since then how far has the world moved toward that goal? Considering Veneman's interpretation of the study's results, not far enough. "Despite progress," in her words, "the world is not yet on track." As the research shows, about 75 percent of the countries failing to make any progress in reducing child mortality are in Africa, where many children are especially vulnerable due to the spread of HIV/AIDS. "Nowhere is the need for lifesaving strategies more apparent than in sub-Saharan Africa, where on average, one child in every six dies before their fifth birthday," according to the report. According to its authors, in 2006, almost half of all under-five deaths occurred in sub-Saharan Africa, even though less than one quarter of the world's children live there.
Some other poor countries also appear to be moving forward. Researchers named Bangladesh, Bhutan, Bolivia, Eritrea, Laos, and Nepal as having lowered their child mortality rate by 50 percent. The report provides information on a strategic framework jointly developed by UNICEF, WHO, and the World Bank to help African nations and others save the lives of poor mothers and their infants. Experts at these international organizations have suggested a series of measures to improve maternal and child health policies, with greater emphasis on the availability of both nutritious food and medicine. "Child survival is not only a human rights imperative," said Joy Phumaphi, vice president of Human Development at the World Bank, in commenting on the study's results. To Phumaphi, "investing in the health of children and their mothers is a sound economic decision and one of the surest ways for a country to set its course towards a better future." ....................................................................................
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