KarunaNews Story

The 4.9 million children who died before their fifth birthday in 2022 is an historic low, says the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation. Several low- and lower-middle-income countries -- Cambodia, Malawi, Mongolia, and Rwanda -- cut under-5 mortality by over 75% since 2000. Many lives could have been saved with better access to high-quality primary health care, including essential, low-cost interventions, such as vaccinations, availability of skilled health personnel at birth, support for early and continued breastfeeding, and diagnosis and treatment of childhood illnesses. At current rates, 59 countries will miss the SDG under-5 mortality target, and 64 countries will fall short of the newborn mortality goal, meaning an estimated 35 million children will die before reaching their fifth birthday by 2030.