Most deaths of children under five occur in India, says Unicef report

NEW DELHI: This is another ranking that India would hate to top.

Close on the heels of recording the largest number of women dying during child birth, the country now occupies another top spot. India holds the unenviable record of being home to the highest number of children who die before reaching their fifth birthday.

According to the latest United Nations under-five mortality estimates, released on Friday by UNICEF, India recorded 17.26 lakh under-five deaths with a mortality rate (deaths per 1,000 live births) of 66 in 2009.

However, there are some silver lining in these depressing figures.

The statistic was much worse in 1990 -- the base year from when the progress made by countries to combat child mortality is calculated.

In 1990, India had recorded 31 lakh under-five deaths, with a mortality rate of 118.

According to the report, India's under-five mortality rate will be 39 in 2015, which works out to an average annual reduction rate of 3.1% since 1990.

Be that as it may, the report says, "India is making insufficient progress: under-five mortality is at least 40 deaths per 1,000 live births and the average annual rate of reduction is at least 1% but less than 4%."

The under-five mortality is increasingly concentrated in a few countries. About half of global under-five deaths in 2009 occurred in only five countries: India, Nigeria, Congo, Pakistan and China.

India and Nigeria, which have 21% and 10% under-five mortality rates last year, respectively, together account for nearly a third of under-five deaths worldwide.

However, globally, the number of deaths among under-five chidren has fallen from 12.4 million in 1990 to 8.1 million in 2009. Since 1990, the global under-five mortality rate has fallen by a third -- from 89 deaths per 1,000 live births to 60 in 2009.

All regions -- except Sub-Saharan Africa, Southern Asia and Oceania -- have seen reductions by at least 50%. But the rate of decline in these three regions is insufficient to achieve the Millennium Development Goal 4.

The highest rate of child mortality continues to be in Sub-Saharan Africa, where one in every eight children dies before five years, which is nearly 20 times the average of one in 167 for developed regions.

South Asia has the second highest rate, where one in 14 children in the same age group dies.In this region, more than half of all childhood deaths occur in the first 28 days after their birth.

Around 40% of under-five deaths occur within the first month of their birth, and 70% occur within the first year. Pneumonia (18 % of deaths) and diarrhoeal diseases (15%) are the most common causes of death.



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