Child mortality

Child mortality, also known as child death, refers to the death of children under the age of 14 and encompasses national mortality, under-5 mortality, and mortality of children aged 5–14. Many child deaths go unreported for a variety of reasons, including lack of death registration and lack of data on child migrants. Without accurate data on child deaths, we cannot fully discover and combat the greatest risks to a child's life. Child mortality, also known as child death, refers to the death of children under the age of 14 and encompasses national mortality, under-5 mortality, and mortality of children aged 5–14. Many child deaths go unreported for a variety of reasons, including lack of death registration and lack of data on child migrants. Without accurate data on child deaths, we cannot fully discover and combat the greatest risks to a child's life. Reduction of child mortality is reflected in several of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. Rapid progress has resulted in a significant decline in preventable child deaths since 1990, with the global under-5 mortality rate declining by over half between 1990 and 2016. While in 1990, 12.6 million children under age five died, in 2016 that number fell to 5.6 million children. However, despite advances, there are still 15,000 under-five deaths per day from largely preventable causes. About 80 per cent of these occur in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, and just 6 countries account for half of all under-five deaths: China, India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 45% of these children died during the first 28 days of life. Child mortality refers to number of child deaths under the age of 5 per 1000 live births. However, the child mortality could be simplified into more specific terms such as prenatal, perinatal, Neonatal, infancy and under 5. Prenatal: child death before the birth, Perinatal: child death before one week of birth, Neonatal: child death before 28 days of birth, Infancy: child death before 1st birthday, and child mortality under 5 refer to any deaths from birth to the 5th birthday. Perinatal mortality rate: Number of child deaths within first week of birth/ total number of birth Neonatal mortality rate: number of child deaths within first 28 days of life/ total number of birth Infancy mortality rate: number of child deaths within first 12 months of life/ total number of birth Under 5 mortality rates: number of child deaths within 5th birthday/ total number of birth