(May 29, 2010) Nearly 20 fewer children per 1,000 live births are dying in India
now, before reaching 28 days of life, than they did two decades ago. As far as post-neonatal
deaths are concerned, India is now losing 15 fewer lives per 1,000 live births than
it did in 1990. Among children aged 1-4 years, nearly 30 fewer children are dying
now than 20 years back. According to a study published this week in medical journal
'Lancet', child deaths worldwide are falling faster than earlier thought. Scientists
predicted that about 7.7 million children under 5 would die in 2010, down from nearly
12 million in 1990. The deaths this year would include 3.1 million neonatals, 2.3
million post-neonatals and 2.3 million deaths of children aged between 1 and 4. According
to new research by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University
of Washington, in the US, under-5 mortality has reduced by 35% since 1990. The global
decline during the past 20 years is 2.1% per year for overall under-5 mortality and
for neonatal mortality, 2.3% for post-neonatal mortality and 2.2% for mortality in
children aged between 1 and 4. India is recording a nearly 4-5% annual decline in
under-5 mortality. Pakistan too hasn't done a bad job. Against a neonatal rate of
54.8 per 1,000 births in 1990, it now stands at 42.7. The study analyzed information
from 187 countries from 1970 to 2009. It found that child deaths dropped by about
2% every year, lower than the 4.4% needed to reach the UN's target of reducing child
deaths by two-thirds by 2015.