Goal 4: Reduce child mortality

Indicators

Target 4a: Reduce by two thirds the mortality rate among children under five

• 4.1 Under-five mortality rate
• 4.2 Infant mortality rate
• 4.3 Proportion of 1 year-old children immunized against measles

Are We on Target?
In 2006, for the first time since mortality data have been gathered, annual deaths among children under five dipped below 10 million. Nevertheless, the death of millions of children from preventable causes each year is unacceptable. A child born in a developing country is over 13 times more likely to die within the first five years of life than a child born in an industrialized country.

Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for about half the deaths of children under five in the developing world. Between 1990 and 2006, about 27 countries – the large majority in sub-Saharan Africa – made no progress in reducing childhood deaths. In Eastern Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean, child mortality rates are approximately four times higher than in developed regions. Disparities persist in all regions: mortality rates are higher for children from rural and poor families and whose mothers lack a basic education.

MDG 4 Solutions

Water.org: Clean water that decreases risk of death from sanitary diseases. see video

Project Concern International (PCI): Lifesaving resources for high-risk pregnancies and complications during childbirth. 

Mobile Telemedicine Technologies: Improved heath care for children in remote areas.

Therapeutic Milk F100: Contains all the nutrients necessary in the treatment of severe malnutrition.  see video: UNICEF