MORE children are surviving beyond their fifth birthday, according to a new report from the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef). The child mortality rate—the number of under-fives dying per thousand live births—dropped by almost a quarter worldwide between 1990 and 2006. The rate fell by around a half in Latin America, central Europe and the former Soviet Union, and East Asia. Progress in sub-Saharan Africa, where the death rate is highest, has been slower. Around one in six children in the region still die before the age of five and the rate is rising in some countries. Pneumonia, diarrhoeal diseases and malaria together account for more than two-fifths of child deaths.

EPA