If you keep up with MDG (Millennium Development Goals) news it would seem unfathomable that a report would emerge from Sub-Saharan African that infant and child mortality has fallen within recent years.
The Millennium Development Goal 4 says that child mortality should be reduced by 2/3 in the developing world by 2015, which comes to 4.4% per year per country. In a previous post I wrote that the World Bank and IMF reported during their spring meetings a few weeks ago that child mortality would not reach the UN’s Millennium Development Goal because only 1/3 of child deaths have been decreased thus far. That, however, does not mean progress is not being made.
According to the Africa Can…End Poverty blog from the World Bank statistics show that 20 Sub-Saharan countries have witnessed a significant decrease in child mortality for children under the age of five particularly in Senegal, Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda and Ghana.
Gabriel Demombynes and Ritva Reinikka note that these mortality decreases are likely due to the wide use of insecticide-treated bed nets and improved sanitation.
This is great news for the global health community as progress is certainly being made.