Levels and Trends in Child Mortality: Report 2020

Sep 10, 2020

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Levels and Trends in Child Mortality: Report 2020 from UNICEF and partners in the UN Inter-Agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME) shows the full scope of child mortality rates across the world – from newborns to adolescents, including youth aged 15–24 years – as well as the progress made toward meeting the SDG targets by 2030.

Progress in reducing child mortality around the world has been remarkable, with under-five mortality rates down almost 60 percent since 1990 and mortality rates across age groups continuing to decline. However, the numbers of child and adolescent deaths remain unconscionable. An estimated 7.4 million children and young people under the age of 25 died in 2019 alone largely due to treatable or preventable causes such as infectious diseases. More than 5 million children died before reaching age 5, and nearly half of those deaths were among newborns (birth to 28 days of age).

The impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic threatens years of improvement in child and adolescent survival through the interruption of essential health services. Even before the pandemic, it was clear that if survival targets were to be met, resources and policy would need to be geared towards accelerating progress, not just maintaining it.

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