Six conditions responsible for 90pc of child deaths
In children under five years of age 8 per cent of deaths are caused
by malaria |
Almost 90 per cent of all deaths among children under five years of age are attributable to just six conditions, according to the World Health Organization, which published its annual World
Health Report this week.
The 2005 report “Make every mother and child count” lists
the conditions as acute neonatal conditions, mainly preterm birth, birth
asphyxia and infections, which account for 37 per cent of the total,
lower respiratory infections, mostly pneumonia (19 per cent), diarrhoea
(18 per cent), malaria (8 per cent), measles (4 per cent) and HIV/AIDS
(3 per cent). The report says that most of the deaths are avoidable and
calls for greater use of interventions such as oral rehydration therapy,
antibiotics, antimalarial drugs and insecticide-treated bednets. It also
promotes use of
vitamin A and other micronutrients, breastfeeding and immunisation.
According to the WHO, about 530,000 women die in pregnancy or childbirth
each year and more than four million newborns die within the first days
or weeks of life. And each year 10.6 million children die before they
reach the age of five years.
“
For optimum safety, every woman, without exception, needs professional
skilled care when giving birth,” the report says, adding that continuity
of care for the newborn in the following weeks is vital.
“This approach has the potential to transform the lives of millions
of people,” says Lee Jong-wook, director general of the WHO.
Reproductive health library The WHO has also released a new version
of its online reproductive health library this week (www.rhlibrary.com).
The library includes reviews of advances in family planning and the
prevention and treatment of illness and death related to pregnancy
and childbirth. It is also available on a CD-ROM and is free of charge
to subscribers in developing countries.
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