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Glossary of Terms
Abuja Declaration – The agreement made by leaders at the African Summit on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Other Related Infectious Diseases in April 2001 to work together in addressing public health concerns and crises. In this declaration Heads of State committed to allocating at least 15 percent of their annual budgets to improve the health sector in their countries.
Artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) – antimalarial drugs that are relatively affordable and effective against multidrug-resistant strains of malaria-causing parasites. ACTs produce a rapid response and are tolerated by most patients.
Asphyxia at birth – Infant death due to suffocation at birth.
Child mortality rate (CMR) – Deaths of children under age five years per 1,000 live births in a specific time period. Technically, it is the probability that a child will die before his or her fifth birthday. The CMR for the United States is eight per 1,000 live births – thus, it is likely that eight of 1,000 children born within a particular period of time will not survive to reach their fifth birthday. The lowest CMR is in Singapore, at 3 deaths per 1,000 live births, and the highest CMR is in Sierra Leone, at 283 deaths per 1,000 live births.1, 2 In many developing countries, the CMR is 25 to 30 times or more as high as the average rate for industrialized countries. See also under-five mortality rate.
Complementary feeding – A food prepared as a substitute for breast milk or formula that contains the essential vitamins and nutrients lacking in the infants diet. Complementary feeding is often used for babies whose mother’s breast milk lacks in nutrients.
Congenital conditions – Conditions that are present at birth, examples include malformations or deformations of internal organs (e.g., congenital heart defect or congenital hearing loss). Congenital conditions are the leading cause of death for infants in the U.S.3
Countdown to 2015 Child Survival Partnership – A partnership between academics, policymakers, activists, program leaders, and donors to facilitate review of progress toward achieving the Millennium Development Goals to reduce childhood deaths.
GAVI – The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization works to combine public and private resources to facilitate immunization efforts.
Total fertility rates – The average number of live births per woman during her reproductive years. In the United States, women bear an average of two children; in Pakistan, women give birth to an average of 4 children. The country with the highest total fertility rate is Timor-Leste, where the average number births per woman is 7.8 children.4
Infant mortality rate (IMR) – The number of deaths in the first year of life per 1,000 live births in a specific time period. In the United States, the IMR is 7 per 1,000 live births. In Afghanistan and Sierra Leone, the IMR is 165 per 1,000 live births.4
Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) – UNICEF and WHO developed this approach to child health. It aims to raise health awareness and improve the ability to manage illness at the family, community and health-worker levels; link families and communities to health facilities; and strengthen health systems, in part through training of health workers.
Lifetime risk of maternal death – A woman’s chance of death due to complications and illnesses related to childbirth. In developed regions including Europe, Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and the United States, one out of every 2,800 women dies from pregnancy-related complications. In Eastern Asia, one out of every 840 women risks death from pregnancy-related complications, while the risk is as high as one out of every 16 women in sub-Saharan Africa.5
Low birth weight (LBW) – Infants born at weights under 2.5 kilograms at birth (about 5.5 pounds) are classified as having low birth weight. Newborns with low birth weight often have mothers who are underweight or undernourished; they are at increased risk of short- and long-term illnesses or disabilities.
Malnutrition – A lack of nutrients needed by the body for appropriate growth and development, and adequate to meet the body’s energy demands. Malnourished children can be underweight – consuming too few calories – or overweight – consuming too many calories. Malnutrition can be caused by an unbalanced or inadequate diet, or by medical conditions that affect the digestion of food or absorption of nutrients from food.
Maternal mortality – The death of a woman from any cause related to pregnancy that occurs during pregnancy or within 42 days of pregnancy termination (e.g., birth, stillbirth, miscarriage, or abortion). Late maternal deaths include deaths from obstetric causes that occur after 42 days but within one year of pregnancy termination.
Maternal mortality ratio (MMR) – The number of maternal deaths (within 42 days of pregnancy) in a specific period of time per 100,000 live births that occur within the same time period. In the United States, the MMR is 14 per 100,000 live births. In Bolivia and Bhutan, the MMR is 420 per 100,000 live births. In Sierra Leone, the country with the highest maternal mortality ratio, as many as 2,000 mothers die per 100,000 live births.4
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – In 2000, eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were agreed upon by 189 nations. The MDGs provide a framework for improving health, education, gender equity, economic, and environmental conditions in developing countries. Specific and measurable targets were set for low and middle income developing countries.
Neonatal mortality rate (NMR) – Number of deaths within the first 28 days of life per 1,000 live births in a specific time period. In the United States, among every 1,000 children born, four die within the first 28 days of life. In Cote d’Ivoir, the NMR is 63 per 1,000 live births.4
Neonatal period – The first 28 days of life.
Neonate – Newborn up to 28 days old.
Nevirapine – An antiretroviral drug used to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV.
Oral rehydration salts (ORS) or oral rehydration therapy (ORT) – A simple, cheap, effective and globally accepted treatment for dehydration. It consists of administration of an inexpensive solution of sugar, salt and water that can be prepared and provided at home. Many diarrhea deaths have been prevented using ORT – packets cost about $0.10 each.
Perinatal period – Period of time from birth through the first week of life where there exists the highest risk of death for an infant.
Physical stunting – Below two standard deviations from average height for age, compared to a reference population. Stunting is generally used as an indicator of malnutrition or chronic undernutrition. It is fairly common in developing countries – for example, in the African countries of Angola, Burundi, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger and Zambia, more than half of children have stunted growth.4
Population growth rate – The increase in a country’s population during a period of time, usually one year, expressed as a percentage of the population at the start of that period. It reflects the number of births and deaths during the period and the number of people migrating to and from a country.6 At a 4 percent growth rate, a country's population will double in 18 years; at a 1 percent growth rate, it will take 70 years.7 The Population Growth Rate for the world is 1.167.
Prematurity – Birth of a baby before 37 weeks of gestation, which is the period from conception to birth.8 Premature birth is the cause of about 27 percent of newborn deaths.9
Replacement feeding – Providing a child with all the essential nutrients when the child is not able to consume breast milk.
Sepsis – Infection and common cause of death for newborns.
The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health – A collaboration launched in September 2005 when the world’s three leading maternal, newborn and child health alliances joined forces under the new name of The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health. These organizations were: the Partnership for Safe Motherhood and Newborn Health, hosted by the World Health Organization in Geneva; the Healthy Newborn Partnership, based at Save the Children USA; and the Child Survival Partnership, hosted by UNICEF in New York.
Under-five mortality rate (U5MR) – see child mortality rate
Undernutrition – Undernutrition is the result of inadequate food intake and repeated infectious diseases. It includes being underweight for one’s age, too short for one’s age (stunting), dangerously thin for one’s height (wasting) and deficient in vitamins and minerals (micronutrient malnutrition).10
| 1 |
World Health Organization. World health statistics. Available from: http://www.who.int/whosis/en/. (accessed June 13, 2007). |
| 2 |
World Health Organization. Annex Table 2a: Under-five mortality rates: estimates for 2003a, annual average percent change 1990-2003, and availability of data 1980-2003. . Available from: http://www.who.int/whr/2005/annex/annex2a.xls. (accessed June 13, 2007). |
| 3 |
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National vital statistics report. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr54/nvsr54_19.pdf. 2006. |
| 4 |
World Health Organization. Core health indicators. Available from: http://www.who.int/whosis/database/core/core_select.cfm/. (accessed June 13, 2007). |
| 5 |
Bernstein S, Hansen CJ. Public choices, private decisions: sexual and reproductive health and the Millennium Development Goals. New York: U.N. Millennium Project. 2006. |
| 6 |
World Bank. Population growth rate. Available from: http://www.worldbank.org/depweb/english/modules/social/pgr/. (accessed June 13, 2007). |
| 7 |
Central Intelligence Agency. World fact book. Available from: http://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html. (accessed June 13, 2007). |
| 8 |
Birth Disorder Information Directory. Available from: http://www.bdid.com/termsp.htm. (accessed June 13, 2007). |
| 9 |
Bryce J, Boschi-Pinto C, Shibuya K, Black RE, WHO Child Health Epidemiology Reference Group. WHO estimates the causes of death in children. Lancet, 365(9465):1147-52. 2005. |
| 10 |
UNICEF. Progress for nutrition, no. 4 May. Available from: http://www.unicef.org/progressforchildren/2006n4/undernutritiondefinition.html. 2006. |
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