Child health
Around 2100 children under the age of five die every day in the Western Pacific Region. Among those, more than 40% are babies that die within the first month of life, mainly due to infections such as sepsis, pneumonia, diarrhoea, and tetanus, or complications related to pregnancy and childbirth. Around half of the deaths occur after the first month and are due to common preventable and treatable conditions, such as diarrhoea, pneumonia, malaria, measles, dengue haemorrhagic fever and malnutrition. Adolescents are at high risk of morbidity and mortality from early pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections (including HIV), injuries, suicide and violence.
Most childhood deaths occur in low-income countries or in poor communities in middle-income countries where many deaths go unrecorded. Six countries in the Region account for more than 75% of the total number of deaths among children under five namely, Cambodia, China, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and Viet Nam. There is an increasing burden associated with high child mortality and morbidity, but resources spent on child survival interventions do not always match the burden of disease in children.
Countries and areas in the Region are committed to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and to reducing child mortality. The goal is to reduce by two thirds the under-five mortality rate between 1990 and 2015.
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Fact sheets
News and press releases
10 June 2009
Child deaths from preventable environmental hazards "can and must be stopped"
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10 December 2008
WHO report turns the spotlight on unintentional injuries to children
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29 September 2008
UNICEF and WHO China statement on contaminated infant formula
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Relevant publications and documents
Health in Asia and the Pacific
Countries in Asia and the Pacific have reached unprecedented levels of prosperity, but millions of people are still mired in poverty and poor health, with no sign of their being able to breach the barrier to better medical care. Despite irrefutable evidence of this troubling gap between rich and poor, few governments and health specialists have access to the data they need to address the problem.
WHO/UNICEF Technical Consultation on Measuring Progress towards Child Survival
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Asia-Pacific Operational Framework for Linking HIV/STI Services with Reproductive, Adolescent, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Services
This Framework is based on the hard work of both country participants and representatives of United Nations agencies who took part in the three regional meetings in Kuala Lumpur in November 2006 and in Guilin in May 2007 to discuss linkages. It provides guidance to countries for the strengthening of linkages between reproductive health (RH), adolescent reproductive health (ARH), maternal, neonatal and child health (MNCH), and the prevention and management of HIV and other STI. Particular emphasis is placed on linkages that will improve HIV/STI prevention and outcomes, and allow RH, ARH and MNCH services to benefit from the strengthening occurring in HIV/STI programmes. Lessons learnt and future directions appropriate to the Asian region are cited.
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Upcoming meetings and events
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