Background. The fourth Millennium Development Goal (MDG-4) proposed to reduce under-5 mortality rates (U5MR) by two thirds within 25 years. The article discusses changes in U5MR for 35 sub-Saharan African countries, for which DHS surveys are available. Methods. Analysis of DHS data, reconstruction of time series of U5MR, and comparison with other series. Findings. Few countries were able to ach...

After Independence in the early 1960s, child mortality in Kenya fell rapidly. Until around 1980, the under 5 mortality rate (U5MR), the probability of dying by age 5, fell at an annual rate of about 4 percent per annum. This rate of decline slowed in the early 1980s, to about 2 per cent per annum. Recent data from the 1998 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey showed that, far from declining, the...

tions to address vitamin A deficiency (by increasing frequent low-level vitamin A intakes) together with continued targeted use of high-dose VACs for those who would benefit. However, we would again like to stress that, since VACs are distributed to 1–5-year-old children, they are not relevant to the majority of under 5-year-old deaths (U5MR), which are predominantly in the first few months of ...

Background. The fourth Millennium Development Goal (MDG-4) proposed to reduce under-5 mortality rates (U5MR) by two thirds within 25 years. The article discusses changes in U5MR for 35 sub-Saharan African countries, for which DHS surveys are available. Methods. Analysis of DHS data, reconstruction of time series of U5MR, and comparison with other series. Findings. Few countries were able to ach...

After a shaky start, South Africa is finally making progress towards achieving the fourth of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), namely to reduce under-five mortality by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015 (UNDP 2003). However, whilst there has been a sustained decline in the country's under-five mortality rate (U5MR), this has only occurred since 2007 and the MDG target of 20 is unlike...

The Declaration is operationalised through eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), each of which provides the blueprint and targets for addressing prioritised social needs. A tension arises, however, between the broad social principles of the Declaration, and the refined targets of the MDGs. Using the fourth MDG as an illustrative example, we highlight the potential to neglect equity in the ...

BACKGROUND The quality of routine data, such as the maternal mortality ratio (MMR), infant mortality rate (IMR), and under-five mortality rate (U5MR) is often questioned. The objective of this study was to compare routine and survey data on key maternal and child health indicators, including the MMR, IMR, and U5MR in the Guizhou Province of China. METHODS In 2008, an urban area and a rural ar...

BACKGROUND Numerous simultaneous complex humanitarian emergencies strain the ability of local governments and the international community to respond, underscoring the importance of cost-effective use of limited resources. At the end of 2011, 42.5 million people were forcibly displaced, including 10.4 million refugees under the mandate of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)...

BACKGROUND Inequality in maternal and child health seriously hinders the overall improvement of health, which is a concern in both the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Healthy China 2030. However, research on the equality of maternal and child health is scarce. This study longitudinally assessed the equality trends in China's maternal and child health outcomes from 2000 t...