BACKGROUND Between 1990 and 2006, China reduced its under-five mortality rate (U5MR) from 64.6 to 20.6 per 1000 live births and achieved the fourth United Nation's Millennium Development Goal nine years ahead of target. This study explores the contribution of social, economic and political determinants, health system and policy determinants, and health programmes and interventions to this succe...

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) represent the widest commitment in history to addressing global poverty and health. MDG-4 commits international community to reducing mortality in under 5 by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015. According to Lancet Neonatal Survival Series (LNSS), since 2000, child mortality after the first month (from 29 days to 5 years) fell by a third [1]. Meanwhile, little i...

indicators only partially capture the elements of gender equality, the chapter introduces fi ve complementary indicators that provide a more complete and nuanced description of gender equality and women’s empowerment. The indicators are measurable, actionable, and parsimonious; three of the fi ve build on existing measures of other MDGs, so the data requirements for monitoring them are not oner...

AIM This paper aims to identify health research priorities that could improve the rate of progress in reducing global neonatal mortality from preterm birth and low birth weight (PB/LBW), as set out in the UN's Millennium Development Goal 4. METHODS We applied the Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative (CHNRI) methodology for setting priorities in health research investments. In the pr...

BACKGROUND Progress towards MDG4 in South Africa will depend largely on scaling up effective prevention against mother to child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV and also addressing neonatal mortality. This imperative drives increasing focus on the neonatal period and particularly on the development and testing of appropriate models of sustainable, community-based care in South Africa in order to rea...

BACKGROUND Infant and child mortality rates are among the health indicators of importance in a given community or country. It is the fourth millennium development goal that by 2015, all the United Nations member countries are expected to have reduced their infant and child mortality rates by two-thirds. Uganda is one of those countries in Sub-Saharan Africa with high infant and child mortality ...

BACKGROUND There is a growing body of evidence that integrated packages of community-based interventions, a form of programming often implemented by NGOs, can have substantial child mortality impact. More countries may be able to meet Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 4 targets by leveraging such programming. Analysis of the mortality effect of this type of programming is hampered by the cost a...

Measles is one of the most highly transmissible contagious human diseases. In the prevaccine era, .90% of children had measles by their 15th birthday. In 1980, before the use of measles vaccine was widespread, an estimated 2.6 million deaths due to measles occurred worldwide. The aim of Millennium Development Goal 4 (MDG4) is to reduce the overall number of deaths among children by two-thirds b...

Background. India accounts for 24% to all under-five mortality in the world. Residence in rural area, poverty and low levels of mother's education are known confounders of under-five mortality. Since two-thirds of India's population lives in rural areas, mothers employed in agriculture present a particularly vulnerable population in the Indian context and it is imperative that concerns of this ...

BACKGROUND More than 450 newborns die every hour worldwide, before they reach the age of four weeks (neonatal period) and over 500,000 women die from complications related to childbirth. The major direct causes of neonatal death are infections (36%), Prematurity (28%) and Asphyxia (23%). Pakistan has one of the highest perinatal and neonatal mortality rates in the region and contributes signifi...