Estimates of Causes of Death in Children

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), for 2000-2003, six causes of death accounted for 74% of the 10.6 million deaths of children younger than five worldwide:

Among these 10.6 million deaths of children under age five, 42% occurred in Africa and 29% occurred in Southeast Asia – leaving 29% of deaths for the other four world regions the WHO designates, i.e., the Americas, Europe, Eastern Mediterranean, and Western Pacific.

Ninety-four percent of global deaths attributed to malaria occurred in Africa, and of these, 87% occurred in Sudan and Somalia. Malaria deaths represented 18% of all deaths in children younger than five in Africa.

Undernutrition (generally defined as a form of malnutrition resulting from a reduced supply of food or from inability to digest, assimilate, and utilize the necessary nutrients) was the underlying cause of 53% of deaths of all children younger than five years.

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The above information was from a report entitled WHO estimates of the causes of death in children published in The Lancet, 2005; 365:1147-52. It is available for free.

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