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13/01/23 09:12 AM IST

In 2021, 2.8 million children in sub-Saharan Africa died before reaching their fifth birthday: UN report  

In News
  • Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 56 per cent of all global under-five deaths in 2021, with 2.8 million children dying before reaching their fifth birthday, according to the latest estimates released by the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN-IGME).
Major Findings
  • Globally, 5 million children died before their fifth birthday (under-five mortality) in 2021.
  • Over half of these (2.7 million) occurred among children aged 1-59 months, while the remainder (2.3 million) occurred in just the first month of life (neonatal deaths).
  • India’s share in these child mortalities was estimated around 7 lakhs under-five deaths; 5.8 lakhs infant deaths (death before first birthday); and 4.4 lakhs neonatal deaths.
  • The global under-5 mortality rate fell by 50% since the start of the century, while mortality rates in older children and youth dropped by 36%, and the stillbirth rate decreased by 35%.
  • This can be attributed to more investments in strengthening primary health systems to benefit women, children and young people.
  • However, gains have reduced significantly since 2010, and 54 countries will fall short of meeting the Sustainable Development Goals target for under-5 mortality.
  • Access to and availability of quality health care continues to be a matter of life or death for children globally.
  • Most child deaths occur in the first five years, of which half are within the first month of life.
  • For these youngest babies, premature birth and complications during labour are the leading causes of death.
UN IGME
  • UN IGME was formed in 2004 to share data on child mortality, improve methods for child mortality estimation, report on progress towards child survival goals and enhance country capacity to produce timely and properly assessed estimates of child mortality.
  • UN IGME is led by United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and includes the World Health Organization, the World Bank Group and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division.
Source- DTE

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