Deaths of children under 5 have dropped by 27 percent - report

GENEVA, May 21 (KUNA) -- A new report issued Thursday by the World Health Organnization (WHO) says that deaths of children aged under five years have dropped by 27% globally since 1990.
According to the WHO's first progress report on the health Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) released today in the World Health Statistics 2009, other results are mixed.
The report says that an estimated 9 million children aged under five years died in 2007, significantly fewer than the 12.5 million estimated to have died in 1990, the baseline year against which progress towards the goals is measured.
However, in many African countries and in low-income countries generally, progress has been insufficient to reach the MDG target, that aims for a two thirds reduction in child mortality by the year 2015.
Director of WHO's Department of Health Statistics and Informatics said Dr Ties Boerma said that areas where there has been little or no movement are notably maternal and newborn health.
"An estimated 37% of deaths among children aged under five occurs in the first month of life, and most of them in the first week of life. While the data are patchy and incomplete, it appears that the regions with the least progress are those where levels of maternal mortality are highest," he added.
The MDGs were initiated by the United Nations and its partners to achieve significant improvements in eight health and development areas by 2015.
World Health Statistics 2009 is an annual report based on more than 100 health indicators collected from WHO's 193 Member States.
These indicators provide a snapshot of global health trends. However, the data have some limitations. These are explained in our Frequently Asked Questions about health statistics.
The report reveals that an estimated 1.2 billion people are affected by neglected tropical diseases.
In 2007, 546 million people were treated to prevent the parasitic disease lymphatic filariasis (also known as elephantiasis), which causes enlargement of parts of the body.
There are now more than 3 million people in developing countries receiving antiretroviral therapy, which proves that complex treatment for chronic disease is possible in low-income settings.
Out of every 100 deaths worldwide, 51 are due to noncommunicable conditions; 34 to communicable, maternal or nutritional conditions; and 14 to injuries.
The report stressed that many developing countries have to cope with a double burden of both infectious and noncommunicable diseases that is overwhelming their health care systems.
Action needs to be taken now to implement preventive interventions including reductions in tobacco use, overweight and obesity, and high blood pressure. (end) hn.ajs KUNA 211534 May 09NNNN