LONDON (Reuters) – According to recent projections from the United Nations, the number of children who died before turning five worldwide fell to a record low of 4.9 million in 2022, but that still equates to one death every six seconds.
The research, which was issued on Wednesday, revealed that although the mortality rate for children under five has nearly halved since 2000, the world is still falling short of its 2030 target of decreasing preventable deaths in that age group, and that progress has stalled since 2015.
The World Bank’s Juan Pablo Uribe, director of health, nutrition, and population, who collaborated with Unicef, the United Nations Population Division, and the World Health Organisation to compile the report, called the figures “an important milestone.”
“But this is simply not enough.” The picture is variable. Some nations, like Cambodia, Malawi, and Mongolia, have cut under-5 death rates by more than 75% since 2000.
Overall, Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 57% of worldwide infant and child mortality in 2022, despite accounting for only 30% of live births that year. Southern Asia had almost a quarter of all deaths and live births. According to the report, babies account for roughly half of all global mortality.
The assessment was constrained by a paucity of data in the worst-affected nations, according to the U.N. partners.
The majority of the deaths were caused by preventable or treatable conditions such as preterm delivery, pneumonia, or diarrhoea. Better access to primary health care and community health workers, according to the United Nations, might dramatically improve the outlook, but climate change, increasing injustice, violence, and the long-term impact of COVID-19 could all jeopardise progress.
