Health topics

Child health


There has been significant progress in child survival in the Western Pacific Region. The overall estimated under five mortality rate was reduced by 65% between 1990 and 2011 and the estimated total number of deaths among children under the age of five years decreased by almost 80%.

However, around 1052 children under the age of five still die everyday. In the Region, 72% of deaths in the underfive are due to neonatal causes, pneumonia and diarrhoea.