Development Cooperation Handbook/Goal 4: Reduce child mortality

27px Youtube ⇒ playlist 17px ⇒ Episode 4 - Reduce child mortality Goal 4: Reduce child mortality thumb|upright=1.2|Goal 4: Reduce child mortality Each year, millions of children die due to lack of hygiene and exclusion from health care services. The number of children dying in the poorest countries is nearly 20 times higher than those dying in developed countries. In a world that has so many resources and means, allowing such massacre to take place is unacceptable. The MDG 4 aims at lowering child mortality rates through expanding health care services and addressing determinants of child health. In the world now, child mortality rates are falling but 22.6 million children still lack access to basic vaccines and an ever increasing number of poor children die before reaching their fifth birthday. There are still countries like Sierra Leone where governments are unable to provide free primary health care and where the presence of international non-government medical organisations is indispensable for saving lives. MDG4 - Target    Target: Reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate    Under-five mortality rate Infant (under 1) mortality rate Proportion of 1-year-old children immunised against measles Hard Facts In 2007, the number of children dying before the age of five has fallen below 10 million per year; The highest rates of child mortality are in sub-Saharan Africa, where, in 2008, one in seven children died before their fifth birthday; Rates of exclusive breastfeeding of infants have significantly improved in 16 countries of sub-Saharan Africa over the past decade; Among 67 countries defined as having high child mortality rates, only 10 are currently on track to meet the MDG target; Almost one third of the 49 least developed countries have managed to reduce their underfive mortality rates by 40 per cent or more over the past 20 years. Edited Stories related to the MDG4 thumb|centre|upright=1.8|17px Emergency Surgical Hospital - Siera Leone See also 27px Youtube ⇒ playlist 17px ⇒ Episode 4 - Reduce child mortality Development Cooperation Stories : 19px ⇒ Emergency Surgical Hospital - Goderich - 17px ⇒ playlist 19px ⇒ A contagious joy transmitting health to children - The Ramakrishna Mission at Varanasi 19px ⇒ Moving Hopes - Damascus - 17px ⇒ playlist /MDG4 /MDGs