Child Mortality Rate Drops by 73 Percent in Bangladesh For The Last 25 Years

An official report revealed that Bangladesh's child mortality rate has dropped by 73 percent in the last 25 years.

A UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) report said the under-five mortality rate in Bangladesh in 1990 was 144 per 1,000, bdnews24 reported.

Brazil Witnesses a 73% Drop in Child Mortality: World Health Organization
According to WHO’s report, the rate of death of Brazilian children under five years old dropped from 61 per 1,000 births in 1990 to 16 per 1,000 births in 2015.

The Levels and Trends in the Child Mortality Report 2015 also showed that the child mortality rates across the world have halved, 53 percent, over the same time-frame.

The number of under-five deaths has dropped to below 6 million for the first time this year, a figure that is in stark contrast to the 12.7 million deaths in 1990.

Unicef Deputy Executive Director Geeta Rao Gupta said the development was a great achievement.

Child Mortality Rate Halved Since 1990, but United Nations' Goal Missed
In order to achieve the new goals, 47 countries must speed up progress, 34 of them in sub-Saharan Africa, and two, Afghanistan and Pakistan, in South Asia.

"But the far too large number of children still dying from preventable causes before their fifth birthday - and indeed within their first month of life - should impel us to redouble our efforts to do what we know needs to be done."

The achievement, however, has showed that a lot has to be done to reach the Millennium Development Goal of a two-thirds reduction between 1990 and 2015.

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The number of deaths of new mothers and babies is high in many areas of the Indian state due to inaccessibility and a lack of public health facilities.

According to the UN, Bangladesh has already achieved the target of reducing under-five mortality rates.

The mortality rate was 46 per 1,000 last year, while the target was 48 for 2015.

Child Mortality Falls Worldwide, but Not Fast Enough
A study led by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health finds millions of children worldwide still die before their fifth birthday.

Sixty-two of the 162 countries, whose data were evaluated to make the report, have also reached the goal.

However, the report indicates that 16,000 children under five are still dying every day.

A massive 45 percent of under-five deaths occur in the neonatal period - the first 28 days of life, the report pointed out, terming prematurity, pneumonia, complications during labour and delivery, diarrhea, sepsis, and malaria as leading causes.

Nearly half of all under-five deaths are associated with malnutrition.

The report highlights that a child's chance of survival still depends vastly on where he or she is born.

Source-IANS