India’s Under 5 Mortality Rate Now Equals Global Average: UN Report

India’s under 5 mortality rates have started to match global standards, but the country is still behind its neighbors like Bangladesh and Nepal in tackling infant and neonatal deaths, a new report suggests.

The report, unveiled by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation, said that India has improved its infant and neonatal medical care and the country’s under 5 mortality rates are now 39 deaths per 1,000 lives. Although the result shows progress, India’s immediate neighbors like Nepal and Bangladesh have done even better in saving the lives of their young ones, the report said. Bangladesh’s has reduced the number to 32 per 1000 while for Nepal, the figure stands at 34.

According to the report, despite making better progress in reducing mortality rates of children, last year, 6.3 million children and young adolescents died globally, mostly from preventable causes. Children under the age of 5 accounted for 5.4 million of these deaths, with 2.5 million deaths occurring in the first month of life. According to the report, “Among children and young adolescents, the risk of dying was highest in the first month of life at an average rate of 18 deaths per 1,000 live births globally in 2017.”

“Without urgent action, 56 million children under five will die from now until 2030 – half of them newborns,” Laurence Chandy, UNICEF Director of Data, Research and Policy said. “We have made remarkable progress to save children since 1990, but millions are still dying because of who they are and where they are born. With simple solutions like medicines, clean water, electricity, and vaccines, we can change that reality for every child.”

According to the report, 30 percent of the global under 5 children deaths occurred in Southern Asia, while half of all deaths took place in sub-Saharan Africa.

“The number of children dying under five has fallen dramatically from 12.6 million in 1990 to 5.4 million in 2017. The number of deaths in older children aged between 5 to 14 years dropped from 1.7 million to under a million in the same period,” the report added.

According to a U.N. report that came out in September, “The global community recognizes the crucial need to end preventable child deaths, making it an essential part of the Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s, and Adolescent’s Health (2016–2030)1 and the third Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)2 to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all people at all ages.”

Dr. Princess Nono Simelela, Assistant Director-General for Family, Women and Children’s Health at WHO said, “Millions of babies and children should not still be dying every year from lack of access to water, sanitation, proper nutrition or basic health services.” We must prioritize providing universal access to quality health services for every child, particularly around the time of birth and through the early years, to give them the best possible chance to survive and thrive.”

According to the report, amongst the most common reason for infant mortality, complications like pneumonia, diarrhea, neonatal sepsis, and malaria are treatable or preventable. Complications during birth is also one of the most occurred instances, the report stated.

“By comparison, among children between 5 and 14 years of age, injuries become a more prominent cause of death, especially from drowning and road traffic. Within this age group, regional differences also exist, with the risk of dying for a child from sub-Saharan Africa 15 times higher than in Europe,” the report said.