World Development Indicators 2013 - Open Knowledge Repository ...

Goal 4 Reduce child mortalityUnder-five mortality ratescontinue to fallUnder-five mortality rate (per 1,000 live births)20015010050Progress toward reducingchild mortality, 1990–2010Share of countries making progress toward reducing child mortality(%)10050050100Reached target On track Off track Seriously off trackInsufficient dataEast Asia& PacificEurope& CentralAsiaLatinAmerica &CaribbeanSource: World Bank staff calculations.43210Europe &Central AsiaEast Asia& PacificEast Asia& PacificLatin America& Caribbean01990 1995 2000 20052011Source: Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation and WorldDevelopment Indicators database.Europe& CentralAsiaLatinAmerica &CaribbeanMiddle East& NorthAfricaDeaths of children under age 5, 2011 (millions)Children (ages 1–4)Infants (ages 1–11 months)Neonatals (ages 0–1 month)Middle East& NorthAfricaSouthAsiaAs mortality rates fall, a larger proportionof deaths occur in the first monthSub-Saharan AfricaSouthAsiaSouth AsiaMiddle East &North Africa4bSub-SaharanAfrica4cSub-SaharanAfricaSource: Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation and WorldDevelopment Indicators database.4aIn 1990, 12 million children died before their fifthbirthday. By 1999 fewer than 10 million did. Andin 2012 7 million did. In developing countries theunder-five mortality rate fell from an average of 95per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 56 in 2011, butrates in Sub- Saharan Africa and South Asia remainmuch higher (figure 4a). Currently, 41 countriesare poised to reach the Millennium DevelopmentGoal target of a two-thirds reduction in under-fivemortality rates by 2015 (figure 4b). Faster improvementsover the last decade suggest that manycountries are accelerating progress and another25 could reach the target as soon as 2020. Lookingpast 2015, still faster progress is possible ifhigh mortality countries give priority to addressingthe causes of child mortality. Concomitant reductionsin fertility rates, particularly among adolescents,will also help.Most children die from causes that are readilypreventable or curable with existing interventions,such as pneumonia (18 percent), diarrhea(11 percent), and malaria (7 percent). Almost 70percent of deaths of children under age 5 occurin the first year of life, and 60 percent of thosein the first month (figure 4c). Preterm birth complicationsaccount for 14 percent of deaths, andcomplications during birth another 9 percent (UNInter-Agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation2012). Therefore reducing child mortality requiresaddressing the causes of neonatal and infantdeaths: inadequate care at birth and afterward,malnutrition, poor sanitation, and exposure toacute and chronic disease. Lower infant and childmortality rates are, in turn, the largest contributorsto higher life expectancy in most countries.Childhood vaccinations are a proven, costeffectiveway of reducing childhood illness anddeath. But despite years of vaccination campaigns,many children in low- and lower middle-incomeeconomies remain unprotected. To be successful,vaccination campaigns must reach all childrenand be sustained over time. Thus it is worrisomethat measles vaccination rates in the two highest8 World Development Indicators 2013 Front ? User guide World view People Environment