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Child Mortality News - adjective. proceeding, made, or occurring without definite aim, reason, or pattern:
Course: English 1 (Eng1)
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University: Our Lady of Fatima University
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Jonathan D. Finuliar 11-14-18
10-1D Mrs. Espila
'Unconscionable': 7,000 babies die daily despite
record low for child mortality
Research shows that, despite ‘remarkable
progress’ on child mortality, many of the 5.6 million
deaths last year among children aged under five
were preventable
The number of children who die before reaching
their fifth birthday has fallen to an all-time low, yet
children around the world continue to die at an
alarming rate, with 5.6 million deaths recorded last
year.
In its annual report on child mortality, the UN said
many of the deaths – which averaged 15,000 a day
in 2016 – were from preventable diseases.
The report also warned that neonatal mortality – the
death of babies in the first 28 days of life – is not
decreasing at the same pace as mortality rates for
children aged between one month and five years.
Each day, a total of 7,000 babies die before they
are 28 days old.
The total number of deaths of children under five
has dropped substantially in recent decades, falling
from 12.6 million in 1990 to 5.6 million last year,
down from 5.9 million in 2015.
The report estimates that 50 million children would
have died between 2000 and 2016 had under-five
mortality rates remained static since 2000.
“The good news is that the world has made
remarkable progress in reducing child mortality
since 1990,” said Danzen You, coordinator of the
UN inter-agency group for the child mortality
estimation, and senior demographer for Unicef.
“The number of deaths now is the lowest in history.
That reduction is really remarkable … Because of
the investments we made in the last decades, we
really accelerated progress in saving newborns and
children.”
However, You warned that much remains to be
done. Child mortality rates in many countries fall
short of national commitments under the , which
call for the reduction of under-five mortality to a
maximum of 25 deaths for every 1,000 live births by
2030. The figure currently stands at 41 deaths for
every 1,000 live births.
The country with the highest rate of under-five
mortality was Somalia, with 133 deaths for every
1,000 live births. The UK has an under-five
mortality rate of four deaths for every 1,000 live
births.
There were huge disparities across countries and
regions. Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest under-
five mortality rate, with 79 deaths for every 1,000
births, which translates to one child in 13 dying
before their fifth birthday. This compares with six for
every 1,000 in northern America and Europe and
four for every 1,000 in Australia and New Zealand.
The same discrepancy is found when comparing
mortality rates among babies. In sub-Saharan
Africa, roughly one child in 36 dies in the first 28
days of life, while in high-income countries, the ratio
is one in 333.
One million children each year die within 24 hours
of being born, and close to 1 million die within the
next six days of life.
Most deaths of newborns happened in southern
Asia (39%) and sub-Saharan Africa (38%), with half
of all newborn deaths happening in just five
countries – India (24%), Pakistan (10%), Nigeria
(9%), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (4%)
and Ethiopia (3%).