Child mortality
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223678906
2008-07-05T06:15:17Z
Drphysics
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/* Child Mortality Rate */
'''Child mortality''' refers to the death of infants and children under the age of five. About 26,000 young children die every day, mainly from preventable causes.<ref> [http://www.unicef.org/health/files/The_State_of_the_Worlds_Children_2008.pdf UNICEF - State of the World's Children 2008]</ref> In 2006, 9.7 million children under five died, a 60% decline since 1960. About half of child deaths occur in Africa.
According to an estimate by [[UNICEF]], one million child deaths could be prevented annually at a cost of $US 1 billion per year (an average of $US 1000 for each child).<ref>[http://www.unicef.org/media/files/Immunization_-_May_FINAL.doc UNICEF Facts on Children - May 2008]</ref> Reduction of child mortality is the fourth of the [[United Nations]]' [[Millennium Development Goals]].
==Causes of Child Mortality==
According to UNICEF<ref> [http://www.unicef.org/health/index_bigpicture.html UNICEF - Health - the big picture]</ref>, most child deaths (and 70% in developing countries)<ref>[http://www.unicef.org/health/index_problem.html UNICEF - Health]</ref> result from one the following five causes or a combination thereof:
*[[acute respiratory infection]]s
*[[diarrhea]]
*[[measles]]
*[[malaria]]
*[[malnutrition]]
Two-thirds of child deaths are preventable.<ref>[http://www.unicef.org/childsurvival/index.html UNICEF - Young child survival and development].</ref> Malnutrition and the lack of safe water and sanitation contribute to half of all these children’s deaths. Research and experience show that most of the children who die each year could be saved by low-tech, evidence-based, cost-effective measures such as [[vaccine]]s, [[antibiotic]]s, micronutrient supplementation, insecticide-treated bed nets and improved family care and [[breastfeeding]] practices.
<ref> [http://www.unicef.org/mdg/childmortality.html UNICEF MDG Goal 4]</ref>
==Child Mortality Rate==
The '''under-five mortality rate''' or '''child mortality rate''' is the number of children who die by the age of five, per thousand live births. In 2006, the world average was 72 (7.2%). The average in developing countries was 79 (down from 103 in 1990), whereas the average in industrialized countries was 6 (down from 10 in 1990). One in six children in Sub-Saharan Africa die before their fifth birthday. The biggest improvement between 1990 and 2006 was in Latin America and the Caribbean, which cut their child mortality rates by 50%.<ref> [http://www.unicef.org/health/files/The_State_of_the_Worlds_Children_2008.pdf UNICEF - State of the World's Children 2008]</ref>
A child in Sierra Leone, which has the world's highest child mortality rate (270)<ref>[http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/sierraleone_statistics.html UNICEF - Sierra Leone statistics]</ref> is almost 100 times more likely to die than one born in Sweden (with a rate of 3).<ref> [http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/sweden_statistics.html UNICEF - Sweden statistics]</ref>
==Highest Rates in the World==
In 2006, there were 41 countries in which at least 10% of children under five died. All but three were in [[Africa]]. Ten of the 41 had higher rates of child mortality than in 1990, and four were exactly the same. The worst 20 were: <ref>[http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/index.html UNICEF - Info by Country]</ref>
''In deaths per thousand''
# [[Sierra Leone]] - 270
# [[Angola]] - 260
# [[Afghanistan]] - 257
# [[Niger]] - 253
# [[Liberia]] - 235
# [[Mali]] - 217
# [[Chad]] - 209
# [[Equatorial Guinea]] - 206
# [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]] - 205
# [[Burkina Faso]] - 204
# [[Guinea-Bissau]] - 200
# [[Nigeria]] - 191
# [[Burundi]] - 181
# [[Zambia]] - 180
# [[Central African Republic]] - 175
# [[Swaziland]] - 164
# [[Guinea]] - 161
# [[Rwanda]] - 160
# [[Cameroon]] - 149
# [[Benin]] - 148
==References==
<references/>
==See also==
*[[Child survival]]
*[[Infant mortality]]
*[[Millennium Development Goal]]
*[[UNICEF]]
[[Category:Death]]
[[Category:Demography]]
[[da:Børnedødelighed]]
[[de:Kindersterblichkeit]]
[[is:Barnadauði]]
[[it:Mortalità infantile]]