Report holds out hope for children

Accra, Dec. 10, GNA - A new report issued on Monday in New York by UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) has revealed detailed information on progress towards the Millennium Development Goals.

A statement issued by UNICEF in Accra said; "Progress for Children: A World Fit for Children Statistical Review" is the sixth in a series released by UNICEF, and the most comprehensive in scope since the series was launched in 2004.

"This edition of "Progress for Children" provides comprehensive data on the Millennium Development Goals," said UNICEF Executive Director, Ann M. Veneman. "While the data shows considerable progress, much more remains to be done."

Following the recent announcement that in 2006 the number of children under-five who die before their fifth birthday declined below 10 million for the first time in recent history, "Progress for Children" provides data on measures that contribute to improvements in child health, including those that could lead to further reductions in under-five mortality over coming years.

The findings of the report state that between 1990 and 2004 more than 1.2 billion people gained access to safe drinking water. It said between 1996 and 2000, rates of early and exclusive breastfeeding - a behaviour that has the potential to avert 13 per cent of all under-five deaths in developing countries - had increased in many countries around the world.

"Seven countries in sub-Saharan Africa saw 20 per cent increases in early and exclusive breastfeeding."

The report said malaria-affected countries had expanded the use of insecticide-treated nets among children, with many of these countries at least tripling coverage between since 2000.

"Access to anti-retrovirals that reduce the risk of the transmission of HIV and AIDS from mothers to infants increased from 7 to 11 per cent for infected women in low- and middle-income countries between 2004 and 2005.

"Access to anti-retroviral treatment for children also increased in much of the world."

It said more than four times as many children received the recommended two doses of Vitamin A supplementation in 2005 than in 1999. Vitamin A supplementation reduces a child's risk of mortality from common illnesses.

The report said, in addition to progress in child survival, progress had also been made in education, gender equality and child protection.

"Increases in school enrolment and attendance reduced the number of primary-school-age children out of school by around 20 per cent between 2002 and 2006.

"And while girls still remain disadvantaged in some areas, the gender gap in primary and secondary education is closing, with two-thirds of the world achieving gender parity in primary education by 2005."

The report said, while the pace of change was slow, it found that the harmful practice of female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) had declined over the past 15 years, and that child marriage was becoming less common.

However, it said, alongside these successes for children, Progress for Children also provided statistics that gave no cause for celebration.

"While the prevalence of underweight children has declined from 32 to 27 per cent in the developing world since 1990, an alarming number of children under-five - 143 million - still suffer under-nutrition, with more than half of them in South Asia."

It said treatment coverage for major childhood diseases, such as pneumonia and malaria, had been slow to expand, adding that pneumonia and malaria together accounted for 27 per cent of all under-five deaths each year.

"More than 500,000 women still die every year as a result of complications during pregnancy and childbirth. About half of these deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa, where a pregnant woman has a 1 in 22 chance of dying, compared to 1 in 8,000 in industrialized countries." It said lack of basic sanitation, along with poor hygiene and unsafe drinking water, still contributed to the deaths of more than 1.5 million children from diarrhoeal diseases each year.

The report said in 2004, 41 per cent of the world's population - 2.6 billion people - did not use improved sanitation facilities. "While some progress has been made since 1990, keeping pace with population growth remains a major challenge."

The report also noted that in many countries, new HIV and AIDS infections were heavily concentrated among young people, who accounted for 40 per cent of the 4.3 million new HIV infections in 2006. It added that this vulnerable group, however, still lacked accurate knowledge about HIV and prevention.