9M young children die worldwide annually

[The Straight Story]

9M young children die worldwide annually


GENEVA, Switzerland, Nov. 27 (UPI) -- Nearly 9 million children worldwide under the age of 5 die every year, officials at the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, said.

Using 2007 figures, WHO officials said about 70 percent of these early child deaths could be prevented by improving living conditions and treatments.

The leading causes of death in children under 5 are pneumonia, diarrhea and health problems during the first month of life. More than one-third of all child deaths are linked to malnutrition, officials said.

Children in developing countries are 10 times more likely to die before the age of 5 than children in developed countries. Three-quarters of all child deaths occur in Africa and Southeast Asia.

A child's risk of dying is highest in the neonatal period -- the first 28 days of life -- and safe childbirth and effective neonatal care are essential to prevent these deaths, WHO officials said. About 40 percent of child deaths under 5 occur during the neonatal period.

http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2009/11/27/9M-young-children-die-worldwide-annually/UPI-64431259344624/

[cliffordu]

1. Where are the right to lifer's on this, I wonder....

:sarcasm:

[StarfarerBill]

3. Too busy trying to re-enslave women to care.

Besides, most of those children aren't white, I imagine, so that drops them even further off of the anti-abortionists' radar.

[cliffordu]

7. Couldn't have come up with a better explanation m'self.....

[pinto]

2. Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (UNICEF)

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

Children and water: global statistics

Lack of safe water and sanitation is the world’s single largest cause of illness. In 2002, 42 per cent of households had no toilets, and one in six people had no access to safe water.

The toll on children is especially high. About 4,500 children die each day from unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation facilities. Countless others suffer from poor health, diminished productivity and missed opportunities for education.

The young and the old are particularly vulnerable. Over 90 per cent of deaths from diarrhoeal diseases due to unsafe water and sanitation in the developing world occur in children below 5 years old.

The poor are especially hard hit. A child born in Europe or the United States is 520 times less likely to die from diarrhoeal disease than an infant in sub-Saharan Africa, where only 36 per cent of the population can access hygienic sanitation.

Urban-rural disparities are striking. In 2002, only 37 per cent of rural inhabitants had access to basic toilets, against 81 per cent of urban dwellers. The disparities were greatest in Latin America and the Caribbean, with a difference of 40 percentage points between rural and urban populations.

Women and girls are the “water haulers” of the world. On average, women and girls in developing countries walk 6 kilometers a day, carrying 20 litres of water, greatly reducing the time they have for other productive work or for girls to attend school.

Waterborne illnesses keep children out of school. A study of Jamaican students aged 9-12 found that children suffering from trichuriasis (a water-borne disease) were in classes only half as much as their uninfected peers. And when schools lack toilets, girls will often not attend.

Improving household drinking water can reduce diarrhea episodes by as much as 39 per cent; on average, improvements to household sanitation facilities can reduce sickness from diarrhea by almost a third. Almost half of the nearly 2 million deaths from diarrhea each year could be prevented through an understanding of basic hygiene.

The world is on track to meet the Millennium Development Goal on water but not sanitation. With the exception of sub-Saharan Africa, all regions should meet their water targets. Under current rates of progress, the world will miss the sanitation target by more than half a billion people.

The MDGS are affordable and cost-effective. Meeting the MDG targets on water and sanitation would cost approximately an additional US$11.3 billion each year. A cost-benefit analysis undertaken by the World Health Organization found that every $1 invested in achieving the Millennium Development targets on water and sanitation would yield returns between $3-$34 depending on the region.




http://www.unicef.org/wash/index_31600.html

[Swede]

4. Plumpy Nut cost 6 cents per package.

It truly is a lifesaver,why it is not saving more children is a mystery to me.

http://www.idpas.org/InfantIronDef/PlumpyNutwebpage.html

[Cleita]

8. Maybe the difficulty of reaching these children in areas that

are war zones or victims of dirty politics.

[varelse]

5. K&R - and let's not forget the role of prenatal care

http://www.womenshealth.gov/faq/prenatal-care.cfm

Babies of mothers who do not get prenatal care are three times more likely to have a low birth weight and five times more likely to die than those born to mothers who do get care.

[ZombieHorde]

6. If someone could help these children by wishes, but chose not to, and just let them suffer and die,

we would call them God and worship them.