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Downward curve start to rise mostly in South-Asia |
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October 31, 2000
Dhaka-- (UNB) – The global death toll in young children has fallen dramatically in the past half century and even dropped below the target set a decade ago by world leaders. But the pace of decline has been slowing in recent years, and in some countries the downward curve has levelled out or is even starting to rise, according to a new study by the World Health Organization (WHO). A large number of countries, however, have still a long way to go to reach the target, shows the study findings published in the latest issue of the WHO Bulletin. “The fall in child mortality means a reduction in the likelihood of a baby dying before its fifth birthday,” it says. As per the study, the probability of a newborn baby dying before the age of five is, globally, about 7 percent compared with 10 percent in 1990, 12 percent in 1980 and 25 percent in 1950. The drop in child mortality also brings the world’s average rate down to an estimated 67 deaths per 1,000 live births. At the World Summit for Children in New York in 1990, leaders of more than 150 countries set a target of 70 deaths per 1,000 live births that all countries of the world were to reach by the year 2000. At that time the global rate averaged about 85 per 1000 live births, already a striking drop from the 180 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1950. At least 57 countries have not reached the 70 per 1,000 target, the Bulletin article points out. And in a stark contrast to the overall progress, some countries have child mortality rates estimated to be above 200 per 1,000 live births. They include, in order of descending rates, Niger (335), Sierra Leone (312), Afghanistan (264), Malawi (219), Guinea and Liberia (205), Guinea-Bissau (202), and Somalia (201). “The slowdown is of particular concern in the case of Africa and South-Asia because it is occurring at relatively high levels of mortality and in countries with severe economic dislocations,” the researchers write. The study traces the dramatic fall of almost 60 per cent in child mortality during the second half of the 20th century. It shows that about 10.5 million children under five died last year, 2.2 million less than in 1990. Of these 10.5 million deaths, 3.8 million occurred in Africa, with a further 2.5 million in India and 750,000 in China. The factors most strongly linked to declining child mortality were better nutritional status and environmental conditions-- better water supply, sanitation and housing. Next came greater availability of medical care during pregnancy, at birth and for children with diarrhoea, followed by the availability of electricity and education of mothers. Growth retardation, or stunting, is a direct consequence of poor feeding and is associated with increased mortality. A new study found that stunting in developing countries has dropped in prevalence from 47 percent in 1980 to 33 percent yesterday, and if these trends continue will fall to about 29 percent by 2005. That means that there are some 182 million stunted children in developing countries now, or 40 million fewer than two decades ago. Of the 182 million, 70 percent live in Asia, 26 percent in Africa and 4 per cent in Latin America and the Caribbean. Better nutrition is not the only reason for the fall in child mortality over recent decades. Another, according to data, could be the increasingly widespread use of oral rehydration therapy (ORT) to manage diarrhoeal diseases. Over the past decades, the estimated number of under-five-year-olds dying from diarrhoea fell precipitously-from 3.3 million to 1.5 million, a saving of 1.8 million young lives. And deaths from all causes in this age group fell by 2.2 million. Over the same period, the proportion of diarrhoea episodes managed with ORT in developing countries soared, from 40 percent to 69 percent. |