The Lancet has recently published two articles concerning global child mortality. Global, regional, and national causes of child mortality in 2008: a systematic analysis by Robert E. Black, et al looks at new estimates for 2008 of the major causes of death in children younger than 5 years. Of the estimated 8·795 million deaths in children younger than 5 years worldwide in 2008, infectious diseases caused 68% (5·970 million), with the largest percentages due to pneumonia. 49% (4·294 million) of child deaths occurred in five countries: India, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Pakistan, and China. [doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(10)60549-1].
The other article is by Julie Knoll Rajaratnam et al, Neonatal, postneonatal, childhood, and under-5 mortality for 187 countries, 1970—2010: a systematic analysis of progress towards Millennium Development Goal 4. Previous assessments have suggested that less than a quarter of countries are on track to achieve MDG 4, which calls for a two-thirds reduction in mortality in children younger than 5 years between 1990 and 2015. This study, however, found that worldwide mortality in children younger than 5 years has dropped from 11·9 million deaths in 1990 to 7·7 million deaths in 2010. Across 21 regions of the world, rates of neonatal, postneonatal, and childhood mortality are declining. [doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(10)60703-9].
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