Africa: Highest child deaths

2004-10-08 11:49

United Nations - One in four children in Sierra Leone dies before age five, and one in 10 in Iraq. Across the globe, poor care for newborns, malaria, diarrhoea, malnutrition and even measles snuff out lives before a fifth birthday, according to a United Nations report released on Friday.

The United Nations Children's Fund reported "alarmingly slow progress on reducing child deaths": One in 12 children worldwide doesn't make it to age 5, with half of all under-5 deaths in sub-Saharan Africa.

"It is incredible that in an age of technological and medical marvels, child survival is so tenuous in so many places, especially for the poor and marginalised," said Unicef director Carol Bellamy, launching the report.

Child mortality refers to the number of children who die before their fifth birthday, and is measured per 1 000 live births. In 2002, industrialised countries had seven deaths per 1 000 births, while the poorest nations had 158 in every 1 000 births.

Iraq lost most ground

The Unicef study is a report card on whether countries are fulfilling a goal adopted by world leaders at the UN Millennium Summit in 2000 which calls for child mortality to be reduced by two-thirds by 2015.

Iraq, which has lost two wars since 1991 and was under UN sanctions for over a decade, lost the most ground of any nation. It was the only country in the Middle East and North Africa where the child mortality rate increased from 1990 to 2002. One in 10 Iraqi children under five died in 2002 while in 1990 the rate was one in 20.

In more than a third of countries in sub-Saharan Africa, child mortality rates have increased or stagnated, the report said.

The 10 countries with the most under-five deaths since 2002 were Sierra Leone with 284 per 1 000 births, Niger 265, Angola 260, Afghanistan 257, Somalia 225, Haiti 222, Guinea-Bissau 211, Burkina Faso 202, and Congo 205.

HIV/Aids was a major obstacle in reducing the youth mortality.

Botswana, Zimbabwe and Swaziland - with high rates of HIV and Aids - had the second, third and fourth largest increases in under-five deaths. Their rates of increase respectively were 37, 25 and 39%.

Improving child survival

Poor care for newborns is the single most prominent cause of child deaths, while malaria accounts for more deaths than HIV/Aids, the study said.

"The world has the tools to improve child survival, if only it would use them," Bellamy said. "Vaccines, micronutrient supplements, and insecticide treated mosquito nets don't cost much and would save millions of children."

Sweden had the lowest rate of the industrialised countries with only 3 under-5 deaths per 1000 births, while Norway, Denmark, and Iceland all were at 4.

The United States had eight child deaths per 1000 in 2002, down from 10 in 1990. But it will also have to make significant strides to reach its target of 3 in 2015.

- AP