Child survival is a field of
public health concerned with reducing child mortality. Child survival interventions are designed to address the most common causes of child deaths that occur, which include
diarrhea,
pneumonia,
malaria, and neonatal conditions. Out of the number of children under the age of 5 alone, an estimated 5.6 million children die each year mostly from such preventable causes. Along with medical action, legislative advancements help prevent and reduce specific causes of death, such as SUID and respiratory illness from RSV. Historically, the prevention of RSV relied on infant health systems, but current research suggests shifting to a universal approach. Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is a leading cause of death in young children, particularly in settings where mortality rates are already high. Expanding the role of monoclonal antibodies to all infants instead of only those at risk, it provides greater protection to shield infants from RSV-related complications. These medical advancements represent the outcomes of research-driven claims in the social problems process. An additional method of prevention can include policies on maternity leave. Policy researchers argue that paid maternity leave is a crucial social intervention. Access to leave allows for better bonding, consistent breastfeeding, and more frequent medical checkups, which collectively lower the risk of infant mortality. Effective prevention often requires not only policy, but also community-level social work. Programs that combine Child Fatality Review (CFR) with direct community outreach help identify specific environmental risks that contribute to infant death. By treating every death as a data point for future prevention, these programs turn tragic outcomes into improved claims for safety education.
Low-cost interventions Two-thirds of child deaths are preventable. Most of the children who die each year could be saved by low-tech, evidence-based, cost-effective measures such as
vaccines,
antibiotics, micronutrient supplementation, insecticide-treated bed nets, improved family care and
breastfeeding practices, and
oral rehydration therapy. Empowering women, removing financial and social barriers to accessing basic services, developing innovations that make the supply of critical services more available to the poor and increasing local accountability of health systems are policy interventions that have allowed health systems to improve equity and reduce mortality. In developing countries, child mortality rates related to respiratory and
diarrheal diseases can be reduced by introducing simple
behavioral changes such as
handwashing with soap. This simple action can reduce the rate of mortality from these diseases by almost 50 per cent. Proven cost-effective interventions can save the lives of millions of children per year. The UN Vaccine division as of 2014 supported 36% of the world's children in order to best improve their survival chances, yet still, low-cost immunization interventions do not reach 30 million children despite success in reducing
polio,
tetanus, and
measles. Measles and tetanus still kill more than 1 million children under 5 each year. Vitamin A supplementation costs only $0.02 for each capsule and given 2–3 times a year will prevent blindness and death. Although vitamin A supplementation has been shown to reduce all-cause mortality by 12 to 24 per cent but only 70 per cent of targeted children were reached in 2015.
Efforts Agencies promoting and implementing child survival activities worldwide include
UNICEF and
non-governmental organizations; major child survival donors worldwide include the
World Bank, the British Government's
Department for International Development, the
Canadian International Development Agency and the
United States Agency for International Development. In the United States, most non-governmental child survival agencies belong to the
CORE Group, a coalition working through collaborative action to save the lives of young children in the world's poorest countries. Substantial global progress has been made in reducing child deaths since 1990. The total number of under-5 deaths worldwide has declined from 12.6 million in 1990 to approximately 5.5 million in 2020. Since 1990, the global under-5 mortality rate has dropped by 59%, from 93 deaths per 1000 live births in 1990 to 36 in 2020. This is equivalent to 1 in 11 children dying before reaching age 5 in 1990 compared to 1 in 27 in 2019. The Sustainable Development Goals has set 2 new goals to reduce under-5 and newborn mortality. The goals set newborn mortality for 12 per 1,000 live births in every country and for under 5 mortality 25 per 1,000 livebirths in every country. In 2019, 122 countries met this and every 10 years, 20 more are expected to follow. World Health Organization (WHO) states they support health equity and universal health care so that all countries may have proper health care with no finances involved. == Epidemiology ==