The annual number of deaths of children aged under 5 years has dropped to less than 10 million last. Still a terrible figure.
www.unicef.org
Of these half were in sub Saharan Africa. ( 4.8 million ( due to HIV and AIDS) and 3.1 million rom south Asia.
The figure for West and Central Africa is 186 deaths per 1000 children under 5 years compared with 6 per 1000 in Western industrial countries
China and India has made great advances in caring for the young
Achieved by simple procedures such as
Immunisation against measles
Exclusive breast feeding
Vitamin A supplements
Use of bed nets treated with insecticide against insect carrying malaria.
Treatment of malaria, pneumonia, diarrhoeal diseases and severe malnutrition , HIV and Aids.
Murray CJL et al 2007 Can we achieve Millenium Development Goal 4? New analysis of country trends and forecasts of under-5 mortality to 2015. Lancet, vol 370, 1040-54