Levels & Trends in Child Mortality. Report 2015

United Nations Children’s Fund, 2015

Résumé :

La région de l’Afrique de l’Ouest a le taux de mortalité des moins de cinq ans le plus élevé au monde. Alors que l’objectif 4 du Millénaire pour le développement, à savoir la réduction de la mortalité infantile, a enregistré des progrès importants, l’Afrique subsaharienne a beaucoup progressé pour réduire les taux élevés de mortalité infantile. L’article suivant est un résumé avec des citations directes du rapport de 2015 du UN Interagency Group for Child Morality Estimation.

Millenium Development Goal 4 — REDUCE CHILD MORTALITY

Reduce by two thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate

“Child mortality is a core indicator for child health and well-being. In 2000, world leaders agreed on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and called for reducing the under-five mortality rate by two thirds between 1990 and 2015 – known as the MDG 4 target… The proposed Sustainable Development Goal target for child mortality represents a renewed commitment to the world’s children: By 2030, end preventable deaths of newborns and children under five, with all countries aiming to reduce neonatal mortality to at least as low as 12 deaths per 1,000 live births and under-five mortality to at least as low as 25 deaths per 1,000 live births.”

PROGRESS: KEY FACTS

• Substantial global progress has been made in reducing child deaths since 1990.

• Promisingly, sub-Saharan Africa, the region with the highest under-five mortality rate in the world, has also registered a substantive acceleration. Its annual rate of reduction increased from 1.6 percent in 1990s to 4.1 percent in 2000–

• Despite these gains, progress remains insufficient to reach the MDV 4 globally and in many regions, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.

• Every day in 2015, 16,000 children under five continue to die, mostly from preventable causes.

• Most child deaths are caused by diseases that are readily preventable or treatable with proven, cost-effective and quality-delivered interventions. Infectious diseases and neonatal complications are responsible for the vast majority of under-five deaths globally.

The substantial progress in reducing child mortality over the past 25 years provides a clear message: with the right commitments, concerted efforts and political will, bold and ambitious goals are within reach.

Sub-Saharan Africa remains the region with the highest under- five mortality rate in all regions in the world, with 1 child in 12 dying before his or her fifth birthday – far higher than the average ratio of 1 in 147 in high-income countries. The region is home to most of the highest mortality countries in the world. The seven countries with an under-five mortality rate above 100 are all located in sub-Saharan Africa.

Moreover, extended efforts are needed to provide the necessary services and interventions given the expected growing number of births and child populations in this region – with a 95 percent probability the number of children under age five in sub-Saharan Africa will grow by an extra 26–57 million, from 157 million in 2015 to between 183 and 214 million in 2030. The region may face unique challenges in reducing the number of child deaths: the number of under-five deaths in sub- Saharan Africa may increase or stagnate even with a declining under-five mortality rate if the decline in the mortality rate does not outpace the increase in population, as observed during the 1990s.

Under-five mortality rate (death per 1,000 births)

Estimates of under-five, infant and neonatal mortality by UNICEF region

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