The World Health Organisation (WHO) has reported notable progress in child and maternal mortality worldwide. According to the latest report, the maternal deaths dropped by 40 percent, while deaths of infants less than 5 years old were reduced by more than half between 2000 and 2023.
Tedros Adhanom, WHO Director General, says most children lose their lives before reaching their fifth birthdays due to preventable diseases and the sluggish progress.
“Behind every data point is a person a child who didn’t reach their fifth birthday, a mother lost in childbirth, a life cut short by a preventable disease,” said Tedros.
In 2023, approximately 4.8 million children under five years and 2.3 million newborns died, according to UNICEF. The UN children's agency says the cause of their death was inadequate health care, nutrition and protection.
WHO calls for an urgent intervention from authorities to save the lives of women and girls, commitment and accountability. The organisation says an urgent action will save 700,000 maternal deaths and 8 million under-5 deaths by 2030.
In 2024, Afghanistan led with 101 deaths per 1000 live births, Somalia secured the second position with 83.6/1000 live births, while the Central African Republic came third with 80.5/1000 live births.
Equatorial Guinea, Sierra Leone, Niger and Chad came in the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh positions respectively while South Sudan, Mozambique, and Mali occupied the eighth, ninth and tenth positions respectively.
