UNICEF Report Warns of Rising Rates of Child Mortality without Proper Funding — Global Issues
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 28 (IPS) – Despite levels of child mortality and stillbirths having significantly decreased since 2000, increasingly unequal and limited access to basic services around the world endangers millions of children around the world, a new report finds.
On March 24, the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME) released its annual report examining trends in child mortality. This report includes contributions from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
Since 2000, global rates of child mortality for children under the age of five has fallen by roughly 52 percent, which has been attributed to an increase in investments and collaboration between governments and communities. However, according to the UN IGME, global progress in the fight against child mortality has slowed down in recent years. Fouzia Shafique, UNICEF’s Associate Director of Health, states that since 2015, progress in reducing child deaths has slowed down by about 42 per cent compared to the 2000 to 2015 rate.
According to estimates from UNICEF, in 2023, there were approximately 4.8 million recorded instances of children dying before their fifth birthday, as well as 2.3 million newborn deaths. These deaths have been classified as preventable and were a result of limited access to healthcare, food assistance, and protection services. UNICEF projects that the number of preventable child deaths could increase by roughly 30 million children by 2030.
“Millions of children are alive today because of the global commitment to proven interventions, such as vaccines, nutrition, and access to safe water and basic sanitation,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. “Bringing preventable child deaths to a record low is a remarkable achievement. But without the right policy choices and adequate investment, we risk reversing these hard-earned gains, with millions more children dying from preventable causes.”
There are significant disparities in child health and wellbeing, particularly in areas that have been impacted by severe humanitarian crises. It is estimated that children in high-child mortality countries are nearly 80 times more likely to die before the age of five than low- child mortality countries.
However, a 2024 study from the Stanford University School of Medicine states that the gap in rates of child mortality between the highest and lowest income families has slowly contracted over the years. The study analyzed roughly 1 million families in 54 low to middle income countries and examined correlations between child wellbeing and wealth.
“In many countries, national wealth has increased hand-in-hand with increasing health inequality. That’s been a signature of our time,” said Eran Bendavid, an associate professor of medicine at Stanford. “It’s a pressing concern for many societies, especially in wealthy countries, but it’s also been an issue in low- and middle-income countries.”
Additionally, mothers in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, who have been exposed to high levels of economic insecurity, conflict, and climate change-induced disasters, account for roughly 80 percent of all stillbirths. These women are six to eight times more likely to have stillbirths than women in North America or Europe.
Shafique spoke to IPS of the current conditions that women and children face in the developing world. “In many low-income and developing countries, children face a much higher risk of dying simply because of where they’re born. Health services are sometimes hard to reach, especially in remote or conflict-affected areas, where there aren’t enough clinics, healthcare providers, or supplies and equipment. Without antenatal care, skilled attendants at birth, and post-natal care, more pregnant mothers lose their babies to stillbirth needlessly, and small and sick newborns die from preventable causes.”
“Home deliveries and inadequate care are also risky for children at term. Many children still die in the first five years of life from preventable illnesses like pneumonia, diarrhea, and malaria, where vaccines, good nutrition, and clean water are limited. Poverty also makes it harder for families to get the care they need,” she added.
Additional UNICEF statistics indicate that only one in twelve European mothers experience stillbirths during labour, compared to one in two mothers in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
“Most preventable child deaths occur in low-income countries, where essential services, vaccines, and treatments are often inaccessible”, said Juan Pablo Uribe, World Bank Global Director for Health and Director of the Global Financing Facility.
According to estimates from WHO, limited access to essential resources, such as food, water, and healthcare, has greatly exacerbated the likelihood of birth complications, trauma, infectious disease, congenital malformations and malnutrition, which are the leading causes of child deaths. It is estimated that food insecurity accounts for 45 percent of all child deaths under the age of five.
Since the report’s release, the UN has warned that funding cuts in the United States’ foreign aid programmes threatens to undo decades of international progress in eradicating child mortality. These funding cuts entail closures of healthcare facilities and a decrease in food security and protection services, all of which deliver life-saving assistance to the most impacted communities.
William Weiss, a professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and a former advisor in the global health bureau at USAID, conducted a study to determine the efficacy of USAID programs in decreasing rates of child mortality. It was determined that nations that received above-average allowances of U.S. funding had, on average, 29 fewer deaths per 1,000 births, equating to approximately 500 fewer deaths per day.
“The recent funding cuts follow years of shrinking aid and are putting UNICEF’s life-saving work at serious risk,” said Shafique. “The impact is heartbreaking. More mothers will go through pregnancy without antenatal care and give birth without skilled help. More babies will be stillborn or die from infections and complications that could have been treated. More children will miss out on vaccines and medicine for deadly diseases like pneumonia, diarrhoea and malaria. The basic safety nets that keep them alive are disappearing and we risk losing the gain made over the last decades.”
“Simply put, if support for life-saving services is not sustained, many countries can expect a resurgence of newborn and child deaths,” the UN IGME report adds.
Cooperation between investors, communities, and governments is also essential in ensuring a decrease in rates of child mortality. It is imperative for funds to be allocated and distributed to communities living in regions that experience high volumes of crisis.
“We have the technologies, we have the means, we have the know-how to reduce child mortality dramatically,” said Bendavid. “Even for such low-hanging fruit, however, implementation is not always easy. You have to have a government that enables basic safety, and the ability to reach poor and rural communities that benefit from these kinds of programs.”
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