Followup: Child Survival

Perhaps some of you faithful readers remember my post on child mortality rates, where we discussed the main causes of child deaths globally.

This week I got some good news on my Facebook feed. (Are you Facebook-friends with UNICEF yet? It's a super-convenient way to keep up on headlines related to global children's issues.) Here's the good news: Recent reports indicate that global child mortality rates are continuing to drop.

Thanks to measures like immunizations, insecticide-treated bednets, and vitamin A supplements, the child mortality rate is declining steadily. From the article linked above: "UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman noted that compared to 1990, some 10,000 fewer children are dying every day."

This is good news--it really is--but of course there has to be an addendum. Although death rates are declining, 8.8 million children still die every year. Nearly 40 percent of these child deaths occur in just three countries: India, Nigeria, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Most of these children die of preventable causes, as discussed in my previous post, like malnutrition, malaria, and other preventable diseases.

Still, we are on the right track. Visit unicef.org for ideas on how you can get involved with the fight for child survival.