• India is among the five countries – Pakistan, Nigeria, Congo and Ethiopia being the others-responsible for half of all new—born deaths in the world, according to a UN report.
• The report, “Levels and Trends in Child Mortality 2017”, revealed that 5.6 million children died before reaching the age of five in 2016.
• Despite the progress, neonatal deaths — defined as deaths during the first 28 days of life — accounted for 46 per cent or 7,000 every day. Another 2.6 million babies were stillborn in 2016, the report said.
• It is unconscionable that in 2017, pregnancy and child birth are still life—threatening conditions for women, and that 7,000 newborns die daily.
• Going by the current trends, 60 million children would die before their fifth birthday between 2017 and 2030, half of them newborns, said the report released by the UNICEF, World Health Organisation, World Bank and the Population Division of UNDESA.

Source:TH