The mortality rate for children aged five and under has dropped from nearly 10 million deaths two decades ago to around half the amount in 2017 – even with the increase in world population by more than one billion people.
Governments and international aid groups have been on a great mission to tackle issues such as child poverty and lethal diseases common among the underprivileged: neonatal disorders, pneumonia, diarrhea and malaria.
96 out of 97 low-to-middle-income countries – who face the majority of child deaths – lowered their child mortality rates between 2000 and 2017, according to a report by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
According to experts, reduced childhood mortality also helps improve health conditions for adults. Mothers with children who survive tend to have less children and are less likely to die from childbirth.
In Thailand, the situation has improved significantly: 39 out of 40 children live past the age of five, thanks to its strong economy along with its investments and focus in health care. A lot of the progress is also reflected in the country with the world’s second largest population – India – where more than a quarter of the global drop in child mortality is reflected.
Dean Jamison, a professor emeritus of global health at the University of California, San Francisco, explained that the list of items that lead to large numbers of deaths in children is not long, adding, “Most of the items on that list can be addressed inexpensively.”
