In a world where children have always faced the worst brunt of everything that’s bad – poverty, abuse, violence and more, the latest report from UNICEF is certainly a ray of sunshine. The latest UN findings point out that the number of children around the world who die before their fifth birthday fell below 10 million in 2006 for the first time in recent history.
The encouraging decline in infant mortality rates can, in all probability, be attributed to development of medical science and greater accessibility to resources and services coupled with increasing awareness.
The report found that between 1990 and 2004, more than 1.2 billion people gained access to safe drinking water. Between 1996 and 2000, rates of breastfeeding in developing countries increased markedly, including in seven sub-Saharan African countries which saw a 20 percent increase. Greater use of insecticide-treated nets has helped control malaria among children, as has increased use of antiretroviral drugs that reduce the risk of the transmission of HIV and AIDS from mothers to infants.
However, the real picture isn’t as rosy as we would have liked it to be. In many parts of the world, children continue to suffer, and die, in the same unfortunate way. For example, in India, a much-awaited government report released on 11th October said that women are having fewer children and infant mortality has dropped in the country, but anaemia and malnutrition are still widespread among children and adults. In fact, 70 per cent children in the age group 6-59 months suffer from anaemia. Infant mortality in less developed countries continues to be high. More than 500,000 women still die every year, for example, as a result of complications during pregnancy and childbirth, about half of whom die in sub-Saharan Africa. The UN study also found an appalling lack of basic sanitation, hygiene and potable water, which contributes to the deaths of more than 1.5 million children each year from diarrhea and related ailments. Findings in USA have indicated a racial picture in infant mortality rates.
This points out that though some work has been done, much more awaits to be done.
Image Credit: ABC News
Source : Yahoo! News