This paper asserts the need to reduce child mortality to at least the MDG target level. Crucial statistics on child mortality
According to Unicef (a) (para 2), there are 29,000 children below the age of 5 who die every day globally primarily from preventable causes. Neonatal deaths are the highest amounting to an estimated 37 percent. Some of these neonatal causes include asphyxia during birth, congenital anomalies, tetanus, pre-term births, and severe infections such as pneumonia as well as diarrhea. Pneumonia is the second global cause of child death making up to 19 percent while diarrhea related deaths make up 17 percent. Malaria is also a serious cause of maternal death as it constitutes 8 percent of the deaths followed by measles which takes 4 percent of the mortalities. A relatively lower but significant cause is HIVAIDS which contributes 3 percent of the deaths (Unicef (b), p 1).
The developing world more so sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia are the worst hit by child mortality. Close to 99 percent of child deaths are for instance found in these two regions in addition to some other middle-income nations. The number of children who die within the first month after birth is significantly high reaching up to 4 million (WHO, para 2). As of 2004, sub-Saharan Africa was leading in the number of child deaths with a high of 46 percent. Following closely was South Asia with 32 percent child mortality. East Asiapacific was third with 10 percent whereas child mortality in Middle EastNorth Africa stood at 5 percent. Child death rate in Baltic States and the larger Europe was as low as 2 percent with the least cases of child death being in Canada, the United States and Latin America with 1 percent death rate. It is worrying that by 2015, the 60 countries with highest child mortality will not have hit the MDG 4 mark.
There has been efforts from various bodies and individual countries to reduce child death especially under-five mortality. While some countries especially the developed ones have been able to meet the MDG 4 target, others are far from it. This is especially in the developing countries. According to The World Bank Group (p 9), there were 37 countries having child mortality rate above 100 per 1000 deaths with sub-Saharan Africa countries having a mortality rate greater than 150 in 1000. It is a big contrast that while 1 in 14 children die before they reach the age of five years in developing countries, there is 1 in 142 children who die in high-income countries. Since this is a global effort, success must be ensured in all the countries. This implies that those that have been able to reduce child mortality significantly must not rest until every other nation hits the mark. The call to reduce child mortality should be taken seriously seeing that 2015 may come without having accomplished this.
Among the contributors to the accomplishment of the MDG 14 which has its subsections include the UNICEF, International Labor Organization, and the World Health Organization.
Reducing child mortality
By targeting on each cause of child mortality, it is possible to come up with a solution of reducing child death. This should be the focus of every country whether poor or rich. In any case, most causes of child mortality are due to easily preventable sources which may not necessarily require a lot of resources.
To arise to the call of reducing child mortality, it is important that initially the health of the mothers be catered for since their well being greatly determines the childs well being. For instance, if efforts would be made to reduce maternal HIV infections, and enlightenment of HIV positive mothers on how to handle their children, mother to child transmission of HIV would be greatly reduced. As of 2006, it was estimated that 2.3 million children aged below 15 years in sub-Saharan Africa were living with HIV (DFID, para 9). Most of these children were infected by their mothers either before or after birth. There are a large number of neonatal deaths occurring due to malnourishment of the mothers. There are also a significant number of children who die during delivery due to inappropriate maternal care. DFID (para 6) notes that more than half of all child deaths occur in underweight children which is due to malnutrition.
It is worrying that a disease such as measles that can be easily prevented through immunization is still claiming many lives of children. By maikng sure that children are immunized from diseases such as measles at an age before 5 years, it becomes easier for the child to survive to maturity (Unicef, para 12). It is appreciable that there have been measles vaccination campaigns globally and especially in the stricken developing countries. Nevertheless, the fact that the coverage is still a bit far from 100 percent coverage calls for increased efforts. Immunization programs against other diseases such as polio should be given more weight. Children who are facing malnourishment need to be supplied with essential nutrients through the efforts of governments as well as international donors. Essential vitamins like vitamin A which boosts immunity should be supplemented in the childs diet to help the child fight illnesses and infections (DFID, para 4).
Of course the first step to reduce child mortality should start with individual governments before calling for international support. All governments should seek to strengthen their health care systems such that public health will be guaranteed. For instance, there are up to 3,900 children who die daily out of lack of safe drinking water and poor sanitation. (DFID, para 3). If the individual governments would allocate more resources on public health initiatives like providing access to safe drinking water, water borne disease like diarrhea would be reduced. Lack of proper sanitation such as failure to wash hands with soap before eating also adds up to the causes of child death. The responsibility again falls in the hands of the government to provide public awareness on the need to wash hands.
Noting that the well being of the mother is a great determinant on the survival of the child, it is also the role of individual governments to ensure that the affairs of women are catered for. For instance, the labor unions should have regulations that are not discriminative to women. Such would include ensuring high incomers to mothers which empowers them to take good care of their families. Mothers should be given enough maternity leaves to ensure that their health and that of their children is safeguarded thus lowering maternal death. The ILO (para 7) also recognizes that workplace hazards result to death of close to 22,000 children every year. As such, it advises that very little children should not be brought into work places.
Empowering women and girls through ensuring that they receive good education is a big step towards reducing child mortality. It is noted that child mortality in cases where mothers have received at least secondary education is much lower compared to cases where mothers have not gone to school or just primary education only (ILO, para 2). An educated mother is able to understand how to avoid most of the communicable diseases that kill most children as well as understand the need for proper maternal and child nutrition. In addition, such a woman can be able to secure a better paying job thus advancing the well being of her family.
Efforts to reduce infectious diseases such as malaria should be increased by governments, international organizations and scientists. It has been well known that use of insecticide treated bed nets is very effective in preventing malaria which kills many young children in sub-Saharan Africa (The World Bank Group, para 2). In this case, governments and donors should put more efforts in making the nets available to all pregnant mothers and children below four years of age. Since there are medications for malaria, no child should be left to die but instead these should be made available to them with the least or no cost. Diseases such as malaria have no vaccine yet. The benefits of developing a vaccine are great as it would be the best preventive measure. This is a wake up call for the scientific community to take part in reducing child mortality by developing a vaccine.
Rich countries that have been able to meet the MDG 4 goal should also channel their support to those countries that are far from the mark. They should at least take the initiative since reducing child mortality is a global initiative which requires global efforts.
Conclusion
Child mortality is a serious challenge globally more so in developing countries of sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Despite the efforts of reducing it based on Millennium Development Goal 4, the problem is still significant. It is unfortunate that most causes of child death are from preventable causes such as asthma and malnutrition. It is therefore the responsibility of individuals, governments, and international communities to intervene in realizing the Millennium Development Goal 4 before its deadline is reached.
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