The United Nations (UN) reported on Tuesday that the global number of children who died before reaching the age of five reached a historic low in 2022. For the first time, the figure dropped below five million.
The report estimates that in 2022, 4.9 million children passed away before reaching their fifth birthday. This marks a 51 percent decrease since 2000 and a 62 percent drop since 1990. However, the report also cautioned that despite this progress, such advancements remain “precarious” and unequal.
“There is a lot of good news, and the major one is that we have come to a historic level of under-five mortality, which… reached under 5 million for the first time, so it is 4.9 million per year,” Helga Fogstad, director of health at the UN children’s agency UNICEF, told AFP.
According to the report, prepared by UNICEF in conjunction with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank, progress was particularly notable in developing countries such as Malawi, Rwanda and Mongolia, where early childhood mortality has fallen by more than 75 percent since 2000.
“Behind these numbers lie the stories of midwives and skilled health personnel helping mothers safely deliver their newborns… vaccinating… children against deadly diseases, and (making) home visits to support families,” UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said in a statement.
But “this is a precarious achievement,” the report warned. “Progress is at risk of stagnation or reversal unless efforts are taken to neutralize the numerous threats to newborn and child health and survival.”
Researchers pointed to already worrying signs, saying that reduction in under-five deaths has slowed at the global level and notably in the sub-Saharan Africa region.
– Preventable deaths –
Since 2000, a total of 162 million children under the age of five have passed away, with 72 million of those deaths occurring within the first month of life. Complications related to childbirth rank among the primary causes of early childhood mortality.
Between the ages of one month and five years, respiratory infections, malaria, and diarrhea emerge as the leading causes of death — all of which are preventable, as highlighted in the report.
Researchers cautioned that to achieve the UN’s target of reducing under-five mortality to 25 per 1,000 births by 2030, urgent investment in children’s health is required in 59 countries. Moreover, without adequate funding, 64 countries are projected to fall short of the goal to limit first-month deaths to 12 per 1,000 births.
“These are not just numbers on a page; they represent real lives cut short,” the report said.
The statistics also underscore stark disparities globally, with half of all deaths of children under the age of five in 2022 occurring in the sub-Saharan Africa region.
A baby born in nations characterized by high rates of early childhood mortality, such as Chad, Nigeria, or Somalia, faces an 80-fold greater risk of dying before their fifth birthday compared to a baby born in countries with low childhood mortality rates, such as Finland, Japan, and Singapore.
“Where a child is born should not dictate whether they live or die,” WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.