New York - The rate of child deaths has declined by 28 per cent since the early 1990s, the UN Children's Fund said Thursday. "Compared to 1990, 10,000 fewer children are dying every day," said Ann Veneman, UNICEF director general. "While progress is being made, it is unacceptable that each year 8.8 million children die before their fifth birthday."
The new estimates provided by UNICEF were obtained and analyzed from sources including demographers, the World Health Organization, the World Bank and the UN population division.
There were 90 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1990, for an estimated world total of 12.5 million deaths. The death rate declined to 65 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2008 for a total of 8.8 million deaths.
Health experts attributed the decline to increased key health interventions such as immunization against measles, use of insecticide-treated bed nets to prevent malaria and vitamin A supplements for children.
UNICEF said the decline in child deaths has been reported worldwide, including in the least developed countries.
