International Perspective
Figure showing Under-5 mortality by background characteristics
However, other than poverty levels and access to health care, the survival of a child is also inhibited by its sex and the time lag between babies for their mothers.
KDHS reveals that“ male children are more likely than female children to die during their first year of life with 44 deaths versus 37 deaths per 1,000 live births.”
Babies born after a short birth interval-less than two years- are nearly twice as likely to die( 83 deaths per 1,000 live births) as babies born after three( 42 deaths per 1,000 live births) or four or more years( 44 deaths per 1,000 live births) according to the KDHS. On the flip side, the world has made significant strides in improving child survival.
Kenya for example, has reduced her under-5- mortality rate by 52 per cent since 1990s. In 1990, under-5- mortality rate stood at 102 per 1000 live births compared to a rate of 49 per 1000 live births in 2015.
UNICEF says that“ progress achieved towards the Millennium Development Goals( MDGs) between 2000 and 2015 demonstrated the power of national action, backed by international partnerships, to deliver transformative results. Children born today are significantly less likely to live in poverty than those born at the start of the new millennium.
They are over 40 per cent more likely to survive to their fifth birthday and more likely to be in school.” Despite that“ Inequity is not inevitable.
Inequality is a choice. Promoting equity – a fair chance for every child, for all children – is also a choice. A choice we can make, and must make. For their future, and the future of our world.” Antony Lake, UNICEF Chief Executive Officer concludes in the World’ s Children 2016 report forward.
58 November-December 2016