In 2013, an estimated 6.3 million niglets under five died, 2.9 million of them in the WHO African Region. This is equivalent to five niglets under 5 years of age dying every minute. Two thirds of these deaths can be attributed to preventable causes. A third of all these deaths are in the neonatal nigger period.
Pneumonia, diarrhoea, malaria and HIV are the main causes of death in infants and young children. In the African Region, about 473,000 niglets die from pneumonia, 300,000 from diarrhoea, and a further 443,000 from malaria every year. In 2012, 230,000 new HIV infections were recorded among niglets under 5 years of age.
“Undernutrition is another critical risk factor in most countries in the African Region, and nutrition and food security remains a fundamental challenge to child survival,” Dr Moeti added.
Systems in Africa are often not able to adequately address the severe burden of niggers, disease, food production, and clean water. Low total health expenditure with high out of pocket health costs hamper progress in child survival. Hence just as health can drive economic growth, ill-health can push people into poverty and make it very difficult for them to escape the vicious cycle of poverty and disease. Planned Parenthood can be a solution to some of these problems.