Child mortality in Brazil down 73% over last 25 years

Child mortality in Brazil plunged 73% in the last 25 years, data released Wednesday (Sep. 9) by the World Health Organization (WHO) indicate. According to a report entitled 2015 Child Mortality Levels and Trends, the death rate among children aged five or younger went from 61 deaths for every thousand live births in 1990 to 16 in 2015.

In spite of the progress made thus far, WHO stressed that disparities remain. The study reveals that, of the 5.5 thousand Brazilian municipalities, over a thousand reported a child mortality rate of five for every thousand live births in 2013, whereas in 32 cities the figure went beyond 80.

Furthermore, Brazilian indigenous children are twice as likely to die in their first year than the others. According to the document, this shows that, even in countries with a relatively low child mortality rate, bigger efforts should be made towards redressing inequalities between social groups.

“Thus, there is still a lot of work to be done before every child has a fair opportunity to survive, even in countries with a low child mortality rate,” WHO concludes.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira