Despite impressive progress in child survival in the Americas over the past quarter-century, vulnerable children—especially those from indigenous, rural and low-income families—remain more likely to die before age 5 than other children.
In the Americas, under-5 mortality has fallen more than two-thirds since 1990, but not all children have benefited equally from this progress
Washington, D.C., 19 November, 2014 (PAHO/WHO) — Despite impressive progress in child survival in the Americas over the past quarter-century, vulnerable children—especially those from indigenous, rural and low-income families—remain more likely to die before age 5 than other children.
On Universal Children's Day, celebrated on November 20 each year, the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) is calling on its member countries to address inequities in child health so that no child dies from a preventable cause, regardless of their ethnicity, their family's income level, or where they live.
Deaths among children under 5 in the Americas fell from 54 per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 18 per 1,000 in 2013—a decline of 67%. This progress has put the region on track to exceed the Millennium Development Goal 4 (MDG-4) target of reducing child mortality by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015.
The average regional mortality rate, however, hides important differences across countries. For example, as of 2011, 87 of every 1,000 children born in Haiti and 51 per 1,000 in Bolivia died before the age of 5, compared with 6 per 1,000 in Cuba.
National child mortality figures also hide important differences within countries. Some countries in Latin America report child mortality rates among indigenous groups that are twice as high as those in non-indigenous groups. Children in low-income families are five times more likely to die before age 5 than those in higher-income brackets. Most of these deaths can be prevented with interventions based on scientific evidence, from quality prenatal care—such as folic acid supplementation and administration of antibiotics in urinary tract infections during pregnancy or childbirth—to delayed clamping of the umbilical cord, early skin-to-skin contact, and exclusive breastfeeding of babies for the first six months of life.
To help countries address inequities in child health, PAHO/WHO has joined forces with the Inter-American Development Bank, the Salud Mesoamerica 2015 Initiative, UNICEF, USAID and the World Bank for an advocacy movement called "A Promise Renewed for the Americas" (APR-LAC). It builds on an earlier global initiative launched in 2012 by representatives of more than 80 countries as well as civil society organizations, who called for action to improve child survival. APR-LAC works with countries to reduce inequities in reproductive, maternal, neonatal, child and adolescent health in Latin America and the Caribbean.
As part of the support offered by APR-LAC to countries in the region, PAHO/WHO will host a session on December 5, 2014, titled "Universal Health Coverage and the Pursuit of Equity in the Americas." Experts will present the current gaps in maternal, neonatal and child health and discuss how to bridge them through universal health coverage. The session will be broadcast in English from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m. EST at www.paho.org/virtual/HSS-UniversalHealthCoverage and in Spanish at www.paho.org/virtual/HSS-CoberturaUniversalenSalud.
In 1954, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) recommended that every country adopt a Universal Children's Day, to foster brotherhood and understanding among children around the world, with activities that promote the well-being of the world's children. November 20 marks the day that the UNGA adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child in 1959 and the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989.
PAHO, founded in 1902, is the oldest international public health organization in the world. It works with its member countries to improve the health and the quality of life of the people of the Americas. It also serves as the Regional Office for the Americas of WHO.
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