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10 Million Children Deaths Annually from Lack of Basic Health Care |
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Written by Teresa Cerojano
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Monday, 12 May 2008 |
More than 200 million children worldwide under age 5 do not get basic health
care, leading to nearly 10 million deaths annually from treatable ailments like
diarrhea and pneumonia, a U.S.-based charity said Wednesday.
Nearly all of the deaths occur in the developing world, with poor children
facing twice the risk of dying compared to richer children, according to Save
the Children's global report.
Sweden, Norway and Iceland top the ranking in terms of well-being for mothers
and children in 146 countries surveyed, while Nigeria ranks last.
Eight out of 10 bottom-ranked countries are in sub-Saharan Africa, where four
out of five mothers are likely to lose a child in their lifetime, Save the
Children said.
The top three among the 55 developing countries ranked in the survey are the
Philippines, Peru and South Africa — all surveyed for the first time. Indonesia
and Turkmenistan tied for fourth.
Laos, Yemen, Chad, Somalia and Ethiopia were found doing the worst among
developing countries, the report said.
Through a number of health initiatives, including access to oral rehydration to
treat diarrhea, the Philippines has nearly cut its child death rate in half
since 1990, said David Oot, Save the Children's associate vice president.
Today, more than 75 percent of Filipino children with diarrhea receive
rehydration therapy, compared with 15 percent of Ethiopian children, he said.
An alarming number of countries are failing to provide the most basic health
services that would save lives, with 30 percent of children in developing
countries not getting basic health intervention such as prenatal care, skilled
assistance during birth, immunizations and treatment for diarrhoea and pneumonia.
Wide disparities in health care for the poorest and best-off children are seen
even in the highest-ranked countries, the report said.
In the Philippines and Peru, for example, the poorest children are 3.2 times
more likely to go without essential health care than their best-off
counterparts.
The poorest Peruvian children are 7.4 times more likely to die than their
richest counterparts, while the chances are 3.2 times higher for poor Filipino
children.
In Latin America, Brazil, Bolivia and Peru have some of the world's widest
survival gaps between rich and poor children. In Asia, large disparities also
exist in India and Indonesia.
Use of existing, low-cost tools and knowledge could save more than 6 million of
the 9.7 million children who die yearly from easily preventable or curable
causes, the report said.
They include antibiotics that cost less than $0.30 to treat pneumonia, the top
killer of children under 5, and oral rehydration therapy — a simple solution of
salt, sugar and potassium — for diarrhoea, the second top killer.
Source: AFP
Support Children Projects Now:
- The Lady Fatemah Charitable Trust:
http://www.ladyfatemahtrust.org/
- Save the Children:
http://www.savethechildren.org
Comments posted are the sole opinion of the author and may not necessarily reflect the opinions of AIM. |
