Child survival in sub-Saharan Africa: taking stock

This study aims to understand the growing gap in child mortality between Africa and the rest of the world. The study reviews mortality patterns and health intervention coverage data in sub-Saharan Africa, with the view to identify how USAID could improve the effectiveness of its contribution to improving child health care in Africa.

The paper argues that the health situation of young children must be urgently addressed, and the decrease of donor interest in child survival is one of the main reasons for the weak programmatic response of African governments.

The strengths of USAID’s more successful programmes include programming at scale of a sufficient number and range of health interventions and delivery approaches; programming for effective community outreach and mobilisation; use of effective and broad-scale communication approaches and effective use of data.