‘Why Under-15 Child Dies Every 5 Seconds around The World’

An estimated 6.3 million children under 15 years of age died in 2017 or one every five seconds, mostly of preventable causes, according to new mortality estimates released by WHO, UNICEF, the United Nations Population Division and the World Bank Group.

The vast majority of these deaths – 5.4 million – occur in the first five years of life, with newborns accounting for around half of the deaths.

“Without urgent action, 56 million children under 5 will die from now until 2030 – half of them newborns,” said Laurence Chandy, UNICEF Director of Data, Research and Policy.

“We have made remarkable progress to save children since 1990, but millions are still dying because of who they are and where they are born.

“With simple solutions like medicines, clean water, electricity and vaccines, we can change that reality for every child,” the official said.

Globally, in 2017, half of all deaths under 5 years of age took place in sub-Saharan Africa, and another 30 per cent in Southern Asia.

In sub-Saharan Africa, one in 13 children died before their fifth birthday. In high-income countries, that number was one in 185. “Millions of babies and children should not still be dying every year from lack of access to water, sanitation, proper nutrition or basic health services,” said Dr. Princess Nono Simelela, Assistant Director-General for Family, Women and Children’s Health at WHO. “We must prioritise providing universal access to quality health services for every child, particularly around the time of birth and through the early years, to give them the best possible chance to survive and thrive. “Most children under 5 die owing to preventable or treatable causes such as complications during birth, pneumonia, diarrhea, neonatal sepsis, and malaria.

“By comparison, among children between 5 and 14 years of age, injuries become a more prominent cause of death, especially from drowning and road traffic. “Within this age group, regional differences also exist, with the risk of dying for a child from sub-Saharan Africa 15 times higher than in Europe,” she explained.

Timothy Evans, Senior Director and Head of Health, Nutrition and Population Global Practice at the World Bank Group, aslso noted, “More than six million children dying before their fifteenth birthday is a cost we simply can’t afford.