By Katy Migiro | Fri., September 16, 12:17 PM | Comments ( 0 )
NAIROBI (AlertNet) – Somalia has the world’s highest child mortality rate, with almost one in five children dying before their fifth birthday, the United Nations said on Friday.
Somalia’s child mortality rate in 2010 stood at 180 deaths per 1,000 live births, according to the latest data released by the U.N. Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation.
With most of southern Somalia in famine, it is likely that the rate of child deaths has increased significantly. The United Nations says 750,000 people are at imminent risk of death.
“Now we anticipate this number of deaths will be even greater,” said Rozanne Chorlton, UNICEF Representative in Somalia in a statement.
With rains due in October, outbreaks of diseases like malaria and pneoumonia are likely to increase deaths among weak, starving children.
Last year, less than a third of one-year-old children in Somalia were immunised, over 70 percent of the population lacked access to safe water, and only three out of 10 children of primary school age were enrolled in school.
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