EUROPE/ITALY - Every child, every human being has the right to adequate medical care, a healthy diet and a dignified existence

Rome (Fides Service) - The World Health Organisation has identified the main killers of children. New estimates demonstrate that in the world 73 per cent of deaths of children under 5 (about 10 million every year) are due to six causes: pneumonia (19 per cent), diarrhoea (18 per cent), malaria (8 per cent), neonatal sepsis (a series of clinical conditions produced by immune response to an infection or trauma, with inflammation and coagulation) (10 per cent), premature birth (10 per cent), suffocation at birth (8 per cent). Malnutrition remains the ‘underground’ cause of 50 per cent of child deaths in the world. Measles, tetanus and AIDS represent a smaller part of the problem, but they must not be underestimated.
War on infantile death can only be won if it is supported by accurate information with regard to the causes. These results were published by the World Health Organisation, always in front line to guarantee the survival of children the world over. The CHERG (Child Health Epidemiology Reference Group) on causes of child death Report started 4 years ago in 2001 assessed the percentage of deaths of children under five. (AP) (31/3/2005 Agenzia Fides; Righe:20; Parole:231)