2008 UNICEF report returns focus to child survival, notes progress, continued need

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 1, 2008

WASHINGTON - In its new report, UNICEF notes that, for the first time, the number of children worldwide dying before reaching their fifth birthday dipped below 10 million, to 9.7 million. Between 1960, when approximately 20 million children did not live past the age of five, and 2006, child mortality rates fell by 60 percent. Despite this progress, more than 26,000 children under age five still die every day from largely treatable and preventable causes. 

"The progress UNICEF reports on in its new State of the World’s Children report is certainly something to celebrate," notes Jennifer Delaney, Executive Director of Global Action for Children. "However, we are still losing more than 26,000 children every day to preventable diseases and malnutrition. We must do something to change that."

Global Action for Children, a nonpartisan coalition advocating for orphans and vulnerable children in the developing world, seeks not only to increase the funds and improve the policies designed to help children worldwide, but also to ensure that money is spent as effectively as possible.

Many children in developing countries die for want of basic medical attention for ailments rarely fatal in the rich countries. One in five child deaths - 2 million annually - are due to pneumonia, and diarrheal diseases account for nearly another 2 million. Forty percent of child deaths occur among newborns, most from severe infections, birth asphyxia (difficulty breathing), or complications due to preterm birth. Measles, malaria, and HIV/AIDS together account for 15 percent of child deaths.

Twenty-five years ago, UNICEF’s State of the World’s Children report launched the first "child survival revolution." Cataloguing a series of life-saving interventions, the report was a clear call to action on behalf of children dying from preventable and treatable diseases. UNICEF’s 2008 State of the World’s Children report returns to the topic of child survival. The report documents the tremendous progress in children’s health in recent decades, highlights the strategies and partnerships that have proven most effective, and outlines the challenges that remain. Like its predecessor a quarter century ago, the 2008 State of the World’s Children report makes clear that the most significant barriers do not require medical innovation, but political will and commitment.

Despite a pledge to work toward the Millennium Development Goals, the United States has no strategy to help achieve the global target of a two-thirds reduction in child mortality. While Congress has spared child survival funding from proposed cuts in recent years, funding remains well below estimates of the U.S. share of the global resource estimates.      

"The United States needs to increase funding for child survival programs, to help kids grow up safe and strong," Delaney stated. "We hope the next President understands the importance of supporting these children and the communities that care for them, and the goodwill it brings from our neighbors around the globe."

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Global Action for Children is a nonpartisan, results-oriented coalition advocating for expanded funding and improved policy for orphans and highly vulnerable children living in the developing world.

View GAC’s Platform for the World’s Children, which offers guidelines for the next U.S. President on improving the lives of children around the world.

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