an Eldis Resource
How many child deaths can we prevent this year?
Child survival interventions: shown to be effective but still missing their target
Authors:
G. Jones; R. W. Steketee; R. E. Black; Z. A. Bhutta; S. S. Morris; Bellagio Child Survival Study Group
Publisher:
The Lancet, 2003
This paper, the second of five in The Lancet Child Survival series, reviews the effectiveness of current interventions for reducing child mortality in low income settings. Interventions are classified as follows: Level 1 indicates sufficient evidence of effect; level 2, limited evidence; and level 3, inadequate evidence. Findings show that at least one level 1 intervention is available for prevention or treatment of each major cause of death among children under 5, with the exception of birth asphyxia, for which there is a level 2 intervention. The study also found that global coverage for most interventions is less than 50 per cent.
The authors argue that 63 per cent of all child deaths could be prevented by existing interventions. In particular, interventions in the neonatal period could prevent 55 per cent of newborn deaths, or 18 per cent of all child deaths, while a third of child deaths could be prevented by household actions. The authors conclude that the interventions needed to meet the millennium development goal of reducing child mortality by two-thirds by 2015 are already available. The problem is that they are not being delivered to the mothers and children who need them. [adapted from author]
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