Goal 4: Reduce child mortality

Sochea, which in Khmer (the Cambodian language) means ‘healthy and happy’, was malnourished and struggling for many years with various diseases. His illnesses meant that his already poor parents spent most of their money on medicines and treatments. This left them with little money to buy food. With education from a new village health centre, Sochea’s mother learned how she could provide better nutrition for her family. Sochea and his younger siblings are now healthier and able to attend school. While 1 in 8 Cambodian children still die before their fifth birthday, Sochea and the other children in his village can look forward to growing up educated and healthy.

Target: Reduce by two-thirds the number of children who die before their fifth birthday.

One in 12 children in the world do not make it to their fifth birthday. In African countries like Angola, Sierra Leone and Niger, one in four children die before they turn five. Often, these deaths are the result of preventable illnesses and diseases like diarrhoea, malaria, measles, or respiratory illnesses. These diseases and other poverty-related reasons cause 30,000 children to die every day.

Significant improvements in the health of young children can be made with the development of small, cost-effective community health services. These services can provide effective immunisation programs and information on the value of insecticide-treated bed nets in preventing malaria. They can also assist parents to increase their awareness of the importance of good hygiene, nutrition, and breastfeeding for the well-being of their children.

Aid and development organisations like World Vision help communities reduce their rates of child mortality by:

1. improving the supply of safe, clean drinking water and good sanitation.
2. training local health workers and educators.
3. providing low-cost immunisation programs and insecticide-treated bed nets.