UNICEF / CHILDREN PREVENTABLE DEATHS

STORY: UNICEF / CHILDREN PREVENTABLE DEATHS
TRT: 3:37
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT UNICEF ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: NATS

DATELINE: PLEASE SEE SHOTLIST FOR DETAILS

SHOTLIST:

23 MARCH 2021, BUVUMA ISLANDS, UGANDA

1. Various shots, midwife with patient, examination room, Busamuzi Health Centre

NOVEMBER 2021, WEST NILE, UGANDA

2. Various shots, premature baby, mother practicing kangaroo care, health facility

11 MAY 2022, GARDEZ, AFGHANISTAN

3. Various shots, malnourished child examined by doctor

9 AUGUST 2022, KATHMANDU, NEPAL

4. Various shots, newborns, Newborn Intensive Care Unit, Paropakar Maternity and Women's Hospital

12 DECEMBER 2022, LOADER DISTRICT, ABYAN GOVERNORATE, YEMEN

5. Various shots, newborns in incubator, newborn attended to by health worker, neonatal department, Al-Shaheed Mahnaf Hospital

OCTOBER 2018, YOLA, NIGERIA

6. Various shots, Midwife with patient. Nana Asma’u clinic

JANUARY 2019, LAHORE, PAKISTAN

7. Various shots, mothers, newborns, Health worker, premature baby, Lahore Hospital

STORYLINE:
According to a new UN report, a child or youth died once every 4.4 seconds in 2021.

An estimated 5 million children died before their fifth birthday, and another 2.1 million children and youth aged between 5–24 years lost their lives in 2021, according to the latest estimates released by the United Nations Inter-Agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME).

In a separate report also released today (9 Jan), the group found that 1.9 million babies were stillborn during the same period.

Tragically, many of these deaths could have been prevented with equitable access and high-quality maternal, newborn, adolescent, and child health care.

The reports show some positive outcomes with a lower risk of death across all ages globally since 2000.

The global under-five mortality rate fell by 50 percent since the start of the century, while mortality rates in older children and youth dropped by 36 percent, and the stillbirth rate decreased by 35 percent.

This can be attributed to more investments in strengthening primary health systems to benefit women, children, and young people.

However, gains have reduced significantly since 2010, and 54 countries will fall short of meeting the Sustainable Development Goals target for under-five mortality.

If swift action is not taken to improve health services, warn the agencies, almost 59 million children and youth will die before 2030, and nearly 16 million babies will be lost to stillbirth.

Children continue to face wildly differentiating chances of survival based on where they are born, with sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia shouldering the heaviest burden, the reports show.

Though sub-Saharan Africa had just 29 percent of global live births, the region accounted for 56 percent of all under-five deaths in 2021, and Southern Asia for 26 percent of the total.

Children born in sub-Saharan Africa are subject to the highest risk of childhood death in the world – 15 times higher than the risk for children in Europe and Northern America.

Mothers in these two regions also endure the painful loss of babies to stillbirth at an exceptional rate, with 77 percent of all stillbirths in 2021 occurring in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

Nearly half of all stillbirths happened in sub-Saharan Africa.

The risk of a woman having a stillborn baby in sub-Saharan Africa is seven times more likely than in Europe and North America.

Access to and availability of quality health care continues to be a matter of life or death for children globally.

Most child deaths occur in the first five years, of which half are within the very first month of life. For these youngest babies, premature birth and complications during labour are the leading causes of death.

Similarly, more than 40 percent of stillbirths occur during labour – most of which are preventable when women have access to quality care throughout pregnancy and birth.

For children that survive past their first 28 days, infectious diseases like pneumonia, diarrhoea, and malaria pose the biggest threat.

While COVID-19 has not directly increased childhood mortality – with children facing a lower likelihood of dying from the disease than adults – the pandemic may have increased future risks to their survival.

In particular, the reports highlight concerns around disruptions to vaccination campaigns, nutrition services, and access to primary health care, which could jeopardize their health and well-being for many years to come.

In addition, the pandemic has fueled the largest continued to backslide in vaccinations in three decades, putting the most vulnerable newborns and children at greater risk of dying from preventable diseases.

The reports also note gaps in data, which could critically undermine the impact of policies and programmes designed to improve childhood survival and well-being.

The two reports – Levels & Trends in Child Mortality and Never Forgotten – are the first of a series of important data sets released in 2023, with UN maternal mortality figures to be published later this year.

UN IGME was formed in 2004 to share data on child mortality, improve methods for child mortality estimation, report on progress toward child survival goals, and enhance countries’ capacity to produce timely and properly assessed estimates of child mortality.

UN IGME is led by UNICEF and includes the World Health Organization, the World Bank Group, and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division.