The United Nations has forecasted that 56 million children under-five will die between now and 2030, half of them newborns.
The UN made this known in a new mortality estimates study made public on Monday night.
However, “with simple solutions like medicines, clean water, electricity and vaccines, we can change that reality for every child”, this could be averted.
The report also revealed that around 6.3 million children under the age of 15, died from mostly preventable causes last year, the equivalent to 1 child every five seconds.
Laurence Chandy, UNICEF Research Director, stated that major progress in reducing child mortality has been made in the last quarter century, with the toll dropping by more than half since 1990, but “millions are still dying because of who they are, and where they are born.”
He claimed children from Sub-Saharan African are disproportionately affected, with half all deaths of under-fives, taking place in the region. One third are in Southern Asia.
For older children, between the ages of five and 15, injuries are a more prominent cause of death, particularly road accidents and drownings.
The report suggests even within countries, wide disparities are found, with under-five mortality rates on average 50 per cent higher in rural areas than in urban areas.
Education is also believed to be a factor, with those born to uneducated mothers more than twice as likely to die before turning five than those born to mothers with a secondary or higher education.
