Today, thousands of children will die from diseases that are easy to prevent.
Deadly diseases like measles, polio, tetanus, tuberculosis, diphtheria and whooping cough are all easily and cheaply preventable by immunisation. Yet every day, 17,000 children under five die, usually because they don’t get the health care and life-saving vaccines they need.
Malaria is one of the greatest dangers for children in sub-Saharan Africa, killing one child every minute. Malaria is spread via mosquitos, so children in malaria countries are in most danger when they’re asleep. Malaria symptoms include fever, headache and vomiting. If not treated, malaria can be deadly.
There’s currently no malaria vaccine, but Unicef is the world’s largest distributor of mosquito nets to protect children from mosquito bites. In 2014 Unicef delivered 26 million mosquito nets to help keep millions of children and their families safe.
Diarrhoea and waterborne diseases
Every day, nearly 1,000 children under five die from diarrhoea due to a lack of safe water, sanitation and basic hygiene. Yet there are low-cost solutions like rehydration salts and zinc supplements that save lives and keep children safe from disease.
Every minute, a child dies from preventable disease. With your help, Unicef will not stop until every child is safe.
Help protect children from disease