| PNCI Update - Press Release |
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May 25, 2010 A new report released today demonstrates that worldwide mortality for children under age 5 has dropped at a rate faster than expected and shows that child mortality is falling in every region of the world – a 35% reduction since 1990. The same prestigious institute that reported a significant drop in maternal mortality last month, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington www.healthmetricsandevaluation.org, today reported great progress in saving the lives of young children around the world. The Parliamentary Network for Critical Issues (PNCI) believes that the study will help lawmakers around the world advance life-affirming health policies as they work to achieve Millennium Development Goal 4 which calls for a two-thirds reduction in mortality in children younger than 5 years by 2015. According to PNCI Director, Marie Smith,
“This study is welcome news to all those who labor to save the
lives of children, born and unborn, around the world. It clearly
documents that the fewer newborns are dying, including in
developing countries. The overall number of children under five
who are receiving critical health care to treat and prevent
disease and illness shows the importance of access to
life-affirming health care to achieve MDG 4.” The study published in Lancet, Neonatal, postneonatal, childhood, and under-5 mortality for 187 countries, 1970–2010: a systematic analysis of progress towards Millennium Development Goal 4, shows worldwide mortality dropping from 11.9 million deaths in 1990 to 7.7 deaths in 2010 and includes all regions of the world. Smith adds, “This study shows a decline in child mortality by more than 1% within sub-Saharan Africa including in Angola, Botswana, Cameroon, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Swaziland, and The Gambia. Many of these countries have been facing international pressure to legalize abortion.” The lead author of the study and Assistant Professor of Global Health at IHME Julie Knoll Rajaratnam stated, “Previous estimates had shown child deaths falling slowly and neonatal deaths nearly at a standstill. We were able to double the amount of data and improve the accuracy of our estimates to find that children are doing better today than at any time in recent history, especially in the first month of life.” This new data demonstrates that 31 developing countries are on pace to meet Millennium Development Goal 4 including Brazil, Mexico, Malaysia, and Egypt all of which have laws restricting access to abortion. The study was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. PNCI believes this new data will assist elected officials devise policies that build on proven methods that save and protect the lives of all children, born and unborn.
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