New UNICEF data shows downward trend in under-5 deaths

On 12 September 2008, UNICEF released new figures that show the rate of deaths of children under five continued to decline in 2007.

The new estimates show a 27 per cent decline in the under-five mortality rate, from 93 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1990, to 68 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2007. In industrialized countries there are, on average, just six deaths for every 1,000 live births.