Levels and Trends in Child Mortality : Report 2017

Every year, millions of children under 5 years of age die, mostly from preventable causes such aspneumonia, diarrhea and malaria. In almost half of the cases, malnutrition plays a role, whileunsafe water, sanitation and hygiene are also significant contributing factors. For this reason,child mortality is a key indicator not only for child health and well-being, but for overall progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Evidence-based estimation of child mortality is a cornerstone for tracking progress towards child survival goals and identifying priority areas to accelerate progress towards eliminating preventable child deaths. Reliable estimates are crucial for planning national and global health strategies, policies and interventions on child health and well-being. In the context of monitoring child survival, the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME) updates child mortalityestimates annually. This report presents the group’s latest estimates of under-five, infant and neonatal mortality up to the year 2016, and assesses progress at the country, regional and global levels. The report also presents, for the first time, the mortality estimates for children aged 5–14 generated by UN IGME. In addition, the report provides an overview on the estimation methods used for child mortality indicators.