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Ten Million Children Worldwide Die From Lack of Health Care
By Teresa Cerojano
The Associated Press
Tuesday 06 May 2008
Manila, Philippines - More than 200 million children worldwide under age 5
do not get basic health care, leading to nearly 10 million deaths annually from
treatable ailments like diarrhea and pneumonia, a U.S.-based charity said Wednesday.
Nearly all of the deaths occur in the developing world, with poor children
facing twice the risk of dying compared to richer children, according to Save
the Children's global report.
Sweden, Norway and Iceland top the ranking in terms of well-being for mothers
and children in 146 countries surveyed, while Nigeria ranks last.
Eight out of 10 bottom-ranked countries are in sub-Saharan Africa, where four
out of five mothers are likely to lose a child in their lifetime, Save the Children
said.
The top three among the 55 developing countries ranked in the survey are the
Philippines, Peru and South Africa - all surveyed for the first time.
Indonesia and Turkmenistan tied for fourth.
Laos, Yemen, Chad, Somalia and Ethiopia were found doing the worst among developing
countries, the report said.
Through a number of health initiatives, including access to oral rehydration
to treat diarrhea, the Philippines has nearly cut its child death rate in half
since 1990, said David Oot, Save the Children's associate vice president.
Today, more than 75 percent of Filipino children with diarrhea receive rehydration
therapy, compared with 15 percent of Ethiopian children, he said.
An alarming number of countries are failing to provide the most basic health
services that would save lives, with 30 percent of children in developing countries
not getting basic health intervention such as prenatal care, skilled assistance
during birth, immunizations and treatment for diarrhea and pneumonia.
Wide disparities in health care for the poorest and best-off children are seen
even in the highest-ranked countries, the report said.
In the Philippines and Peru, for example, the poorest children are 3.2 times
more likely to go without essential health care than their best-off counterparts.
The poorest Peruvian children are 7.4 times more likely to die than their richest
counterparts, while the chances are 3.2 times higher for poor Filipino children.
In Latin America, Brazil, Bolivia and Peru have some of the world's widest
survival gaps between rich and poor children. In Asia, large disparities also
exist in India and Indonesia.
Use of existing, low-cost tools and knowledge could save more than 6 million
of the 9.7 million children who die yearly from easily preventable or curable
causes, the report said.
They include antibiotics that cost less than $0.30 to treat pneumonia, the
top killer of children under 5, and oral rehydration therapy - a simple
solution of salt, sugar and potassium - for diarrhea, the second top killer.
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On the Net:
Save the Children: http://www.savethechildren.org
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