WASHINGTON, Feb. 23 (UPI) -- About 29,000 children under five years of age die every day around the world from preventable causes, said a new report.
The report, from UNICEF Canada, said that, in 1955, parents around the world faced the harsh reality that 210 out of every 1,000 children born would die before reaching age five.
Today, that number has been decreased to 79 out of every 1,000 children. Overall progress is continuing as the under-five mortality rates continue to decline globally every year - three million more children survived in the year 2000 than in 1990, an 11 per cent decrease in under-five mortality in that decade alone, the study, Global Child Survival and Health: A 50-year progress report, said.
However, the report shows that progress has been neither perfect nor even. In 14 countries (nine in sub-Saharan Africa), the national rates of child mortality actually increased in recent years, largely due to the devastating effects of HIV/AIDS. Globally, 10.6 million children are still dying from preventable causes every year.
"The fact that many of the same diseases that were killing young children in the 1950s are still killing millions of children every year is disgraceful," says Nigel Fisher, president and CEO, UNICEF Canada. "The fundamental difference between now and five decades ago is that we have the knowledge and proven cost-effective technologies to prevent and treat these childhood threats - including pneumonia, diarrheal disease, malaria and measles - yet these are still the leading causes of preventable death for the world's children. With the advances of the past five decades, we could bring these diseases to their knees and break the back of the HIV/AIDS pandemic - but we need greater political will and action."
The study also found that:
--Pneumonia and other acute respiratory infections kill approximately two million children every year, making it the leading cause of death of children under five years of age.
-- Diarrheal disease kills 1.6 million children every year, primarily by causing severe dehydration that can quickly result in the failure of vital organs in young children.
--Malaria kills 3,000 African children every single day, making it the largest cause of death for children under five on the continent and leaving a legacy of persistent anemia, lifelong brain damage or paralysis for many who survive.
--Measles kills more than half a million children every year.
--1,800 children under the age of 15 are infected with HIV every day, most through transmission of the virus from mother to baby during pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding.
--Fifteen million children worldwide have been orphaned by AIDS, losing their first line of protection against disease and harm when their parents die.
--Iodine deficiency in pregnancy causes mental impairment in almost 18 million babies a year.
--About 100-140 million children around the world are estimated to suffer from some form of vitamin A deficiency, leaving them at increased risk of mortality.
