Record low number of children dying before their fifth birthday, UN finds

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), said: 'Every year millions of families still suffer the devastating heartbreak of losing a child.' File photo: Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP

The number of children globally who died before their fifth birthday dropped to a record low of 4.9 million in 2022, but that still represents one death every six seconds, according to new United Nations estimates.

While the mortality rate for under-5s has roughly halved since 2000, the world is still behind in the goal of reducing preventable deaths in that age group by 2030. In fact, progress has slowed since 2015, the report, released on Wednesday, found.