According to UNICEF, 8.8 million children die needlessly each year due to mainly preventable and treatable diseases. Sadly, 500 000 women perish each year during pregnancy or childbirth and 4 million newborns die within the first 28 days of life. In Africa alone, each year 1.16 million babies die within the first month of life and a quarter of a million women die of pregnancy related causes.
The Millennium Development Goals (MDG) 4 (child health) and 5 (maternal health) were created to address the staggering and preventable child and maternal deaths in the world. However, as we have surpassed the half way point to the 2015 deadline to reach the MDGs, we find that MDG 4 and 5 are among the ones who made the least amount of progress amongst all MGDs. Progress on MDG 4 is at 32% and on MDG 5 is at a mere 9%.
Accelerating progress on reducing child mortality can be achieved through simple and cost-effective interventions. It is estimated that over 60% of the 8.8 million child deaths each year can be prevented through 23 well-proven responses, such as breastfeeding, prevention of mother-to child transmission of HIV, immunization, micro-nutrients, and oral rehydration therapy to treat diarrhea.
Children, who are among the most vulnerable, are among the hardest hit in tough times. While the full impact of this economic crisis has yet to be measured, past economic crises give an indication of how severe the impact can be for the world’s poorest children. During the 1989-1990 economic crisis in Peru, for example, infant mortality increased by 2.5 percent, resulting in approximately 17,000 additional child deaths. During Mexico’s economic crisis in the 1990s, the under-five mortality rates rose 7 percent above expected levels.
Many believe the impacts of the current crisis are likely to be just as severe. The World Bank estimates that the financial shock and its impact will cause anywhere between 200,000 to 400,000 more children to perish each year between now and 2015. That means a total of 1.4 million to 2.8 million more child deaths if the effects of the crisis are not dealt with.
