Child deaths are falling, but not quickly enough. Between 1990 and 2008, the death rate for children under five has decreased by 28 per cent, from 100 to 72 deaths per 1,000 live births. That means that, worldwide, 10,000 fewer under-fives die each day.
The causes of child deaths are related to malnutrition and lack of access to adequate primary health care and infrastructure, such as water and sanitation, in many developing countries. Pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria and AIDS accounted for 43 per cent of all deaths in under-fives worldwide in 2008, and more than a third of all child deaths were attributable to undernutrition.
Considerable progress was made in routine immunization against measles worldwide, particularly in Africa, protecting millions of children against this often fatal disease.
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