UNICEF focus on child deaths

Community Action, Feb 20, 2008

"Community-level integration of essential services for mothers, newborns and young children, and sustainable improvements in national health systems can save the lives of many of the more than 26,000 children under five who die each day," said Ann M. Veneman, UNICEF Executive Director.

"UNICEF's State of the World's Children Report 2008 describes the impact of simple, affordable life-saving measures, such as exclusive breastfeeding, immunization, insecticide-treated bed nets and vitamin A supplementation, all of which have helped to reduce child deaths in recent years.

While recent data show a fall in the rate of under-five mortality, the State of the World's Children Report 2008 suggests actions and initiatives that should lead to further progress.

The approach to child survival that the report advocates would see the best disease-specific initiatives combined with investment in strong national health systems to create a continuum of care for mothers, newborns and young children that extends from the household, to the local clinic, to the district hospital and beyond.

There is need for life-saving strategies most apparent in sub-Saharan Africa where, on average, one child in every six dies before their fifth birthday. In 2006, almost half of all under-five deaths occurred in sub-Saharan Africa, even though less than one quarter of the world's children live there.

The report emphasizes the need to involve local communities. "These communities generate a necessary demand for quality health care and their engagement is vital if marginalized and remote populations are to be reached," the report states.

unicef.org