The number of children who died before their fifth birthday has reached a historic low, dropping to 4.9 million in 2022, according to this latest estimates released by the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME).
BEIJING: A fast-spreading viral outbreak in eastern China has killed 21 children, sickened nearly 3,000 others and caused panic among parents in an impoverished corner of Anhui Province, state news media reported Friday.
Tamil Nadu enjoys the top slot among the Indian states in providing healthcare. It has a 95 per cent immunisation coverage. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has certified it as a tetanus free state for neonates. No polio case has been reported here in the last four years. Also, there has been no incidence of diphtheria and whooping cough in the state. Yet, it was here that a vaccine
China has deployed troops to help victims of a 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck the southwest today, with at least four children killed and 100 injured when two schools collapsed. The earthquake was so strong it was felt as far west as Thailand's capital Bangkok, some 3300km away, where office buildings swayed for several minutes. It also swayed buildings in the Taiwanese capital of Taipei, and was felt in Hong Kong. China had sent military troops to help with disaster relief work, the state-run Xinhua news agency said.
An unprecedented 1.5 million Chinese children have participated in a painting competition on the topic of climate change, in a sign of the country's growing awareness of environmental issues. The competition, held in China for the first time, saw the children collectively submit 200,000 paintings on the theme of climate change. Some 620 paintings were selected for prizes by the jury, which was made up of renowned Chinese artists, UNEP officials and Ms Elizabeth Rihoy of Resource Africa.
More than 200 million children worldwide under age 5 do not get basic health care, leading to nearly 10 million deaths annually from treatable ailments like diarrhea and pneumonia, a U.S.-based charity said Wednesday. Nearly all of the deaths occur in the developing world, with poor children facing twice the risk of dying compared to richer children, according to Save the Children's global report. Sweden, Norway and Iceland top the ranking in terms of well-being for mothers and children in 146 countries surveyed, while Nigeria ranks last.
The world's poorest and most vulnerable children are being hit hardest by the impact of climate change, according to a new report from UNICEF UK. Published exactly 10 years after the UK signed the Kyoto Protocol, Our Climate, Our Children, Our Responsibility called for immediate action from Government to make children a priority in the climate change agenda. It described how children, especially in Africa and Asia, face increased violence and disease, and scarcer food and clean water, causing up to an extra 160,000 deaths a year.
Authorities have reported more than 6,300 cases in a deadly viral outbreak and on Monday raised the death toll to 26 children. The latest fatality was in coastal Zhejiang province. The provincial Health Ministry's website said that in addition to the one death, 1,198 children had been stricken with enterovirus 71. The ministry appealed for any sick children "to be sent immediately to health clinics" and for people to "report the case immediately to health and education departments."
The number of children aged 14 or younger is estimated to have totaled 17.25 million in Japan as of April 1, marking a record low for the 27th straight year, according to a government report released one day ahead of the Children's Day holiday on Monday. Children formed 13.5% of the aggregate population, making Japan the country with the lowest percentage of children among 31 major countries. Their proportion of the total population fell from 13.6% last year, registering a drop for the 34th year in a row, the report showed.
The United States will donate $10 million in emergency food aid and another $30 million in food aid through a three-year school feeding programme in the country. "The primary beneficiaries of the new $10 million emergency food aid will be those still struggling to recover from the devastating effects of cyclone Sidr,' said US Ambassador to Bangladesh James F Moriarty at a press conference at the American Recreation Association in the city yesterday.
New investigations into obesity may identify people with an inherited risk of weight gain, explain why crash diets often fail and address a danger period in childhood that leads to obesity in adult life. Sifting through the genetic codes of 77,000 people, a British-led international team say they have found culprit variants in DNA near a gene already fingered in the molecular ballet that causes obesity. The gene, called MC4R, orchestrates appetite and energy expenditure.
