The world saw a sharp decline in child mortality between 1997 and 2017, with the number of kids dying before age five nearly cut in half, according to a report recently released by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and a research team from the University of Washington. But wide disparities persist between countries and within them.
A September 17, 2019 New York Times article on the report noted that reduced child mortality is considered a marker of healthier conditions for adults. Ashish Jha, K.T. Li Professor of Global Health at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, told the Times that mothers who lose fewer children tend to have fewer children, which reduces their risk of dying in childbirth and increases their ability to improve their household’s economic prospects. “It has huge implications for the family,” he said.
Read the New York Times article: Almost Everywhere, Fewer Children Are Dying