Maternal and Child Health
How global efforts to reduce maternal and child mortality have achieved dramatic results, the persistent inequalities that remain, and the unfinished agenda.
Dramatic Progress
The reduction in maternal and child mortality over the past three decades is one of global health's greatest achievements. Under-five child mortality has declined by more than 50 percent since 1990, from roughly 12.6 million deaths per year to about 5 million. Maternal mortality has fallen by about 34 percent. These gains reflect improvements in nutrition, vaccinations, access to skilled birth attendants, treatment of childhood infections, and family planning.
Specific interventions have been transformative. Oral rehydration therapy (ORT), a simple and cheap solution of water, salt, and sugar, has saved tens of millions of children from dying of diarrheal disease. Expanded immunization programs, led by GAVI and UNICEF, have protected billions of children from measles, polio, and other preventable diseases. Insecticide-treated bed nets have dramatically reduced malaria deaths in children under five.
