A child under 15 dies every five seconds: UN

A child under 15 years of age dies every five seconds around the world, says the United Nations Child Mortality report released Tuesday, with close to one in every five deaths taking place in India. Of the estimated 6.3 million children who died in 2017, 1.14 million (18.09%) were from India.

The vast majority of these deaths – 5.4 million – occurred in the first five years of life, with newborns accounting for around half the deaths. India reported close to one million under-five deaths. Most children under five die due to preventable or treatable causes such as complications during birth, pneumonia, diarrhoea, neonatal sepsis and malaria. By comparison, among children between 5 and 14 years of age, injuries become a more prominent cause of death, especially from drowning and road traffic.

“More than six million children dying before their fifteenth birthday is a cost we simply can’t afford,” said Timothy Evans, senior director and head, health, nutrition and population global practice, World Bank Group. “Ending preventable deaths and investing in the health of young people is a basic foundation for building countries’ human capital, which will drive their future growth and prosperity.” Despite these challenges, fewer children are dying each year worldwide. The number of children dying under five has fallen dramatically from 12.6 million in 1990 to 5.4 million in 2017. The number of deaths in older children aged between 5 to 14 years dropped from 1.7 million to under a million in the same period. India’s under five mortality rate — deaths per 1,000 live births — has come down to 39 in 2017 from 124 in 1990.