UN: One child under 15 dies every five seconds

NEW YORK: An estimated 6.3 million children under the age of 15 died in 2017, the equivalent of one every five seconds, according to new mortality estimates released by the UN on Tuesday.

A closer look at the figures highlights the disproportionate risks to the lives of children in certain parts of the world compared to others, with half of all deaths of children 5 years old and younger in 2017 occurring in sub-saharan Africa, and 30 per cent in southern Asia.

Around half of the deaths recorded were newborns, and 5.4 million were in their first five years of life.

“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,” said Laurence Chandy, UNICEF’S director of data, research and policy. “With simple solutions like medicines, clean water, electricity and vaccines, we can change that reality for every child.”

Most children younger than 5 die due to preventable or treatable causes such as complications during birth, pneumonia, diarrhoea, neonatal sepsis and malaria. Older children are more likely to die from accidents such as drowning or road traffic injuries. For children between the ages of 5 and 15, those from sub-saharan Africa are 15 times more likely to die than those in Europe.

But the report also points out progress — the overall number of children dying under five has fallen from 12.6 million in 1990 to 5.4 million in 2017.

The joint report was compiled by UNICEF, the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Population Division and the World Bank Group.