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TechnoratiLoss of 9.7 Million Children Unacceptable, Says UNICEF
UNITED NATIONS - The sharp decline in deaths among infants and children worldwide during the past century is "one of the great success stories in international public health", the U.N. children's agency UNICEF said Tuesday.
The annual number of child deaths has been halved, from roughly 20 million in 1960 to 9.7 million in 2006.
But a closer look at these trends reveals that progress has been unevenly distributed, says the annual "State of the World's Children 2008", released by UNICEF.
"There is no room for complacency," warns UNICEF executive director Ann Veneman. "The loss of 9.7 million young lives each year is unacceptable."
And despite progress, she said, the world is not yet on track to achieve the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target of a two-thirds reduction in the rate of child mortality by the year 2015.
Of the 62 countries making no progress or insufficient progress towards the MDG on child survival, nearly 75 percent are in Africa.
And of the 46 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, only three are on track to meet the MDG goal: Cape Verde, Eritrea and Seychelles.
In Southern Africa, infant and under-five mortality have increased, as AIDS reduces life expectancy and increases mortality from infections, tuberculosis, malaria and under-nutrition, the UNICEF report said.
And maternal mortality "remains unacceptably high" both in Africa and South Asia, with little advances over the past decades.
On average, UNICEF said, more than 27,000 children under the age of five die each day, most of them from preventable causes. But over 80 percent of all under-five deaths in 2006 were in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
"What is a life worth?" asks UNICEF. "Most of us would sacrifice a great deal to save a single child. Yet somehow on a global scale, our priorities have come blurred."
Nearly all of the 27,000 children who die each day live in the developing world. And more than one-third of these children die during the first month of life, usually at home and without access to essential health services and basic commodities that might save their lives.
The major causes of death for children under five are: neonatal causes (36 percent); pneumonia (19 percent); diarrhoea (17 percent); malaria (8.0 percent); measles (4.0 percent) and AIDS (3.0 percent).
Of the 11 countries where 20 percent or more of children die before the age of five -- Afghanistan, Angola, Burkina Faso, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger and Sierra Leone -- over half have suffered a major armed conflict since 1989.
Similarly, says the UNICEF report, fragile states characterised by weak institutions and high levels of corruption, political instability and a shaky rule of law are often incapable of providing basic services to their citizens.
Institutional and environmental factors can sometimes be the dominant factor in child survival, the study notes.
"In countries where AIDS has reached epidemic levels, for example, combating the syndrome is the main challenge for child survival," it says.
The scale and nature of the AIDS epidemic is such that all other interventions will prove ineffective unless the deadly disease is addressed first.
The report also says that countries that suffer from food insecurity, or are prone to droughts, are also at risk of having poorer child survival outcomes. The inability to diversify diets leads to chronic malnutrition for children, increasing their vulnerability to ill health and ultimately, death.
Dr. Margaret Chan, director-general of the Geneva-based World Health Organisation (WHO), says stepping up investment in health systems will be crucial "if we are to meet the child health targets" set by the United Nations.
But still progress can be made even when health systems are weak, she argues.
"Innovative programmes in many countries show that an integrated approach where each child is reached with a package of interventions at one time can bring immediate benefits," she adds.
Veneman points out that lives can be saved when children have access to community-based health services, backed by a strong referral system.
According to Veneman, widespread adoption of basic health interventions, including early and exclusive breastfeeding, immunisation, vitamin A supplementation and the use of insecticide-treated mosquito nets to prevent malaria, are essential in scaling up progress, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere.
"Our challenge now is to act with a collective sense of urgency to scale up that which has proven successful," Veneman declared.
© 2008 Inter Press Service
14 Comments so far
Show AllEwww, unacceptable eh?
I'll tell you what's unacceptable, it's unacceptable that you bloated toads lick the boots of the U.S. and Israel. That's unacceptable. United Nations my ass. If you were united nations you'd DEMMAND the terrorist nations of Israel and the United States stop their mass-murder across the globe!!
How much stock in Haliburton et al do YOU all own??
The best way to control overpopulation is to have all of the peoples of the world living in modern, and sustainable, societies. All of the richest countries are complaining of late about their aging populations and low birth rate and the need for stealing educated immigrants from third world nations to fill their workforce. Bringing all of the nations of the world up to a healthy life standard would solve all (most) of the world's problems, provided that the UN outlawed war.
Sadly, since we as a species have chosen the "death rate solution" for overpopulation, I fully expect to see the improvement in infant mortality rates over the period since 1960 to go into reverse. I know nobody wants to talk of overpopulation and infant mortality in the same breath (if they are willing to contemplate overpopulation at all), but facts is facts.
Certainly 9.7-million is 'unacceptable' to them.
That's just a 'drop in the bucket' planned:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7693
[Click my Name]
The reasons for these children dying in such numbers is that the politicians are more concerned about destroying the environment and funding organised religion then doing somthing that saves people, positivly impacts and is imporant in this world.
Unfortunatly I doubt any poiticians with enough power read this site.
They are doing the same thing in Iraq. First it was the sanctions..then war, then the depleted uranium. Oh how I feel sick when I write that.
Deplete the land and deplete the people, I hate to say it but I believe it was all planned.
There is no country in the world which donates more per capita than Cuba. And they do not donate sacks of "flour" but doctors, health, vision, alphabetization in various languages, among other humanist contributions. And all this in spite of a criminal blockade of almost fifty years by the worst scumbag country of history, the U.S.A..
If the UN was serious about addressing injustices, instead of providing a facade for the evil scum which are the corporate governments, then they would follow Cuba's lead. And, if they had any sense or morals, they would get their headquarters out of that bastion of evil which is the U.S.A. and relocate to a more proper scenario that represents the vaulted values which they profess to encompass. And the only country in the world which is deserving of such a headquarters of a just world organization is Cuba.
Infant mortality, famine, and related problems in the poor countries stem from the conspiracy of local despotism and global capitalism. These forces conspire to prevent curriculums, economies and cultures from developing around the essentials of local self-sufficiency, survival, and security.
These forces instead seek to keep people dependent and otherwise marginalized to make exploitation of them and their land as easy as possible. Armed with these facts, the individual in any/all societies may use them to govern one's exchange/association in the society.
So for example, an individual asks a prospective employer at the job interview his opinion about the framing of the capitalist/despot conspiracy. The interviewee notifies the interviewer that his decision will be based in part on the response. Ultimately this benefits both the interviewee and the conspiracy victims, i.e. all people.
Charitable donations are five to ten times higher per capita in the social democracies than in the USA - and that is with much higher taxes, much lower hours/week, and considerably higher unemployment. The people are treated with more respect, and the better people are treated, the better they demand treatment of others.
That report is from a UN agency? Aren't they the same irresponsible outfit that waits until people are in dire straits from starvation and then delivers them sacks of "flour" instead of apples and oranges and other such real food? What needs to be overhauled and repaired is the UN so that it works like a responsible organization so that the world society gets fixed and is not always subjected to such obscene sights in a world of plenty.
9.7 million infant and child deaths? Tell you what. Label them "retroactive abortions" and the religious right is sure to find it appalling. Otherwise it will draw only a yawn from them.
To the fundies in power, letting them starve is preferable to giving people free food and family planning.
We don't have the time, money or resources to worry about starving and dying children. We need it to make war so big corporations can reap huge profits off the kills like giant vultures. Here's a link to an example of the attitude I'm talking about.
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=071_1200891769
This so called "species" has shot its wad. We cannot even care for our young. bring on the nukes. not a moment too soon .