Goal 4: Reduce child mortality

 

The Millennium Development Goals and the International Development Agenda  -   TVP Manual - Section 1:Informing and Setting the Vision -

see Manuals General Index


 Each year, millions of children die due to lack of hygiene and exclusion from health services.

The number of children dying in the poorest countries of the world is nearly 50 times higher than those dying in developed countries. In a world that has so many resources and means, to allow such massacre to take place is unacceptable.

The MDG 4 aims at lowering child mortality rates. This means to expand care services and address all child health determinants. 
 

In the world now, majority of the children get vaccinated and indeed the child mortality rates are falling but in sub-Saharan Africa, one in seven children still do not live to see their fifth birthday.

There are still countries like Sierra Leone where governments are unable to provide free primary health services and where the presence of international non-government medical organisations is indispensable for saving lives. 
 


 

Graphs

      


 

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Image:Mortality.jpg


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MDG4 - Target   

Target: Reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate   

  • Under-five mortality rate
  • Infant (under 1) mortality rate
  • Proportion of 1-year-old children immunised against measles
     


 

Hard Facts
 
  • In 2007, the number of children dying before the age of five has fallen below 10 million per year;
  • The highest rates of child mortality are in sub-Saharan Africa, where, in 2008, one in seven children died before their fifth birthday;
     
  • Rates of exclusive breastfeeding of infants have significantly improved in 16 countries of sub-Saharan Africa over the past decade;
  • Among 67 countries defined as having high child mortality rates, only 10 are currently on track to meet the MDG target;
  • Almost one third of the 49 least developed countries have managed to reduce their underfive mortality rates by 40 per cent or more over the past 20 years.


 

·         Episode 4 - MDG 4 Reduce child mortality