Child mortality

“Over the past quarter century, child mortality has more than halved yet in 2016 an
estimated 5.6 million children still died before reaching their fifth birthday, most from
conditions that are readily preventable or treatable with proven, cost-effective
interventions” (WHO, 2018). Every year World Health Organization (WHO) publishes
“Child health fact sheets” providing detailed information most at risk ages, causes of
morbidity and mortality, prevention and global response information. Please review the
“Child health fact sheet” from 2018 and share your findings. If you were a policy
maker or a international program director, how would these findings affect your decision
making. Please support your response.

References:
World Health Organization, (WHO), (2018). Children: Reducing mortality. World Health
Organization.

Response

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) (2019), approximately b5.3 million
mortalities were reported in 2018 among children aged under the age of five. Additionally,
almost half of these incidents involved infants in their first month of life. Some of the major
causes of their mortality were complications during preterm births, asphyxia, congenital
anomalies, malaria, and diarrhea, and pneumonia. Since the WHO suggests that most of the

RESPONSE TO HRIPSIME WRIGHT 2
morbidity and mortality rates are preventable through affordable interventions that include
immunization, adequate nutrition, and safe water, as well as appropriate care, it becomes
contradictory for policymakers to make the relevant decisions.

More precisely, the WHO proposed various strategies that could be applied to mitigate
the morbidity and mortality of children under the age of five. Some of the strategies epitomize
the promotion of strategies such as the appropriation of home care and timely treatment of
complications among newborns (WHO, 2019). These are followed closely by the advocacy for
the promotion of programs on immunization and the integration of childhood illness
management interventions. If vaccines, antenatal care visits, and adequate nutrition interventions
have, over the years, been used to mitigate the morbidity and mortality incidences among
children in different parts of the world, then, the persistence and prevalence of their deaths each
year would adversely impact my decision-making process as policymaker (WHO, 2019). The
adverse effects would be attributed to the confusion in the determination of the suitable and most
effective strategies besides those proposed by the WHO.

References

WHO. (2019, September 19). Children: Reducing mortality. WHO | World Health
Organization.