 
September 15, 2008
Child Mortality Declines Worldwide in 2007
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), more than 9 million children around the world in 2007 died before the age of 5, declining slightly from 2006, Reuters reports. However, child deaths remain disproportionately high in poor countries compared to wealthier ones.
In its report, UNICEF showed that efforts to promote better health measures lowered death rates from 9.7 million to 9.2 million.
According to the article, improvements in Latin America and the Caribbean, Central and Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union and in parts of Asia push the overall decline, but deaths remain high in sub-Saharan Africa where one in seven children dies before age 5.
“Recent data also indicate encouraging improvements in many of the basic health interventions, such as early and exclusive breast feeding, measles immunization, Vitamin A supplementation, the use of insecticide-treated nets to prevent malaria, and prevention and treatment of AIDS,” said Ann Veneman, UNICEF’s executive director. “These interventions are expected to result in further declines in child mortality over coming years.”
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