Children are dying and we could save them!

I quote from The Lancet:

Previous assessments have highlighted that less than a quarter of countries are on track to achieve Millennium Development Goal 4 (MDG 4), which calls for a two-thirds reduction in mortality in children younger than 5 years between 1990 and 2015.......

We compiled a database of 16 174 measurements of mortality in children younger than 5 years for 187 countries from 1970 to 2009, by use of data from all available sources, including vital registration systems, summary birth histories in censuses and surveys, and complete birth histories.......... 

Worldwide mortality in children younger than 5 years has dropped from 11·9 million deaths in 1990 to 7·7 million deaths in 2010, consisting of 3·1 million neonatal deaths, 2·3 million postneonatal deaths, and 2·3 million childhood deaths (deaths in children aged 1—4 years).

It would appear that more than 4 million children are now alive who would not have survived had they been born in 1990. The problem with that "success" is that many millions of children had died who might have lived had people cared, and many more children will continue to die needlessly.


Look at the kids in the photo above. Then think of the statistics. Each of those children dying needlessly leaves distraught parents. Each has suffered too much, too long!