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| The Importance of Child Health |
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| Note: New estimates of child health mortality, morbidity, and prevalence have been released since the launch of this website. We are currently in the process of updating these pages. In the meantime, please visit UNICEF’s State of the World’s Children 2009 Report for the latest data.
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Children under the age of five face multiple obstacles, including birth injuries, infectious diseases, malnutrition, home environments that lack intellectual stimulation, and environments with polluted water and air. Neonatal mortality has persisted and currently 38 percent of all deaths (4 million) occur during the first month of life.
- Each year, more than 9 million children die, mostly from preventable and treatable causes.1
- Impressive gains have been made in reducing child mortality in the past forty years—globally, child deaths have halved from 20 million in 1960 to well under 10 million in 2009.2 But progress has been geographically uneven, with child mortality rates either increasing or remaining constant in at least 26 countries.3 Africa has shown the slowest progress in reducing child deaths, reducing child deaths by only 14% between 1990 and 2006.2
- Millions of children suffer from short- and long-term adverse consequences of illnesses, malnutrition and injuries that impact their well-being and options in life, including fewer educational opportunities and diminished future economic prospects.4
- Child health is closely related to maternal health, as nutrition during pregnancy, birth conditions, birth spacing, and health status of the mother impact the health of the child prior to, during and after birth. Largely because of these factors, 3 million infants are stillborn each year.
 In many parts of the world, widespread introduction of simple, inexpensive interventions have successfully targeted the major killers of infants and children. Highly effective and often “low-tech” solutions, as well as improvements in health delivery systems, have enabled rapid declines in child mortality to occur, even in developing countries.
- At least 6 million child deaths can be prevented each year, if affordable health interventions are made available to the mothers and children who need them. Cost-effectiveness has been increased by providing packages of interventions that address multiple health issues through known and cost-effective interventions.5-8
- Healthy and well-educated children contribute to the security, economic growth and civil stability of nations.
- Governments of developing and donor nations alike must be motivated to make the necessary investments in children, who are voiceless and powerless. However, such programs are vastly under funded, limiting the services and materials provided to those in need.
In 2000, 189 nations agreed upon eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that provide a framework for improving health, education, gender equity, economic and environmental conditions in developing countries.9, 10
- MDG 4 focuses on reducing the 1990 child mortality rate by 2/3 by 2015; currently few of the 68 high-mortality, high-priority countries are on-track to reach this goal.3
- Other MDGs contribute to improving child health by targeting hunger and nutrition, education, gender empowerment for girls, maternal health, infectious diseases and environmental stability.
| Learn More... |
Global Health Opportunities reports for Child Health | more
Fact Sheet: Improving Global Health with Clean Water and Sanitation | PDF
Policy Briefs:
Malaria Eradication: Is it Possible? | PDF
A Critical Shortage of Health Care Workers | PDF
Success Stories:
Reaching the Child Survival Millennium Development Goal | PDF
Getting Back to Global Child Health | PDF
Health Equity for the World’s Children Would Save Millions of Lives | PDF |
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| 1 |
UNICEF. 2009. State of the World's Children. Available from: www.unicef.org/sowc09/ |
| 2 |
UNICEF. The state of the world's children 2008. Available from: www.unicef.org/publications/files/The_State_of_the_Worlds_Children_2008.pdf |
| 3 |
UNICEF. Countdown to 2015: Tracking progress in maternal, newborn and child survival: the 2008 report. 2008 (accessed, Available from: www.countdown2015mnch.org/documents/2008report/2008Countdown2015FullReport_2ndEdition_1x1.pdf |
| 4 |
Grantham-McGregor S, Cheung YB, Cueto S, et al. Developmental potential in the first 5 years for children in developing countries. Lancet, 369:60-70. 2007. |
| 5 |
Bryce J, Black RE, Walker N, et al. Can the world afford to save the lives of 6 million children each year? Lancet, 365(9478):2193-99. 2005. |
| 6 |
Jones G, Steketee RW, Black RE, et al. How many child deaths can we prevent this year? Lancet, 362(9377):65-71. 2003. |
| 7 |
Bryce J, Terreri N, Victora CG, et al. Countdown to 2015: tracking intervention coverage for child survival. Lancet, 368:1067-76. 2006. |
| 8 |
Lawn JE. A price tag for newborn and child survival. Available from: http://cs.server2.textor.com/alldocs/40%20Joy%20Lawn.ppt. (accessed May 9, 2007). |
| 9 |
The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, The World Bank. Global monitoring report 2006 Millennium Development Goals: Strengthening mutual accountability, aid, trade, and governance. Washington, D.C.: The World Bank. 2006. |
| 10 |
UNDP. About the MDGs: basics. Available from: http://www.undp.org/mdg/basics.shtml. (accessed June 12, 2007). |
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