Børnedødeligheden hos børn under 5 år falder overraskende hurtigt. Det viser en ny rapport, som baserer sine konklusioner på data fra 187 lande over perioden 1970 til 2010. Det indikerer, at tiltag, som har til formål at mindske dødeligheden, er begyndt at virke og har en større effekt end først antaget.
Worldwide, 7.7 million children are expected to die this year — still an enormous number, but a vast improvement over the 1990 figure of 11.9 million. On average, death rates have dropped by about 2 percent a year from 1990 to 2010, and in many regions, even some of the poorest in Africa, the declines have started to accelerate, according to the report, which is being published online Sunday by The Lancet, a medical journal. Some parts of Latin America, North Africa and the Middle East have had declines as steep as 6 percent a year.
