CPLP: Child mortality rates fell in all member states in last 30 years, Mozambique included – UN

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CPLP: Child mortality rates fell in all member states in last 30 years, Mozambique included – UN

6:26 CAT | 11 Jan 2023

FILE - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: UNICEF Mozambique]

All Portuguese-speaking countries have lowered child mortality in the last 30 years, but some still contribute to current trends that will culminate in the death of 48 million children under five by 2030, indicates the UN.

The report “Levels and Trends in Child Mortality” was prepared by several international institutions (Unicef, WHO, World Bank Group and the United Nations) and indicates that every 4.4 seconds, a child or young person will die in 2021.

This document from the United Nations Inter-Agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (IGME/UN) includes data from the countries that make up the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP): Angola, Brazil, Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, Portugal, Sao Tome and Principe and Timor-Leste.

All these countries have improved their main child mortality indicators in the last three decades.

In 1990, Angola had an infant mortality rate before the age of five of 223 per thousand births, a figure that fell to 204 in 2000 and to 71 in 2020.

In this African country, 125,000 children under the age of five died in 1990, 153,000 in 2000 and 91,000 in 2020.

The infant mortality rate was 132 per 1,000 births in 1990 and 48 per 1,000 births in 2020. Infant deaths decreased from 76,000 (1990) to 62,000 in 2020.

The neonatal mortality rate was 54 per 1,000 births in 1990, 50 in 2000 and 27 in 2020. There was no decline in neonatal deaths, which were 32,000 in 1990, rising to 40,000 in 2000 and reaching 36,000 in 2020.

Indicators have improved in Brazil, where in 1990 there was an under-five mortality rate of 63 per thousand births, 35 in 2000 and 15 in 2020.

The number of children under five who died in 1990 was 234,000 in 1990, 122,000 in 2000 and, twenty years later, 42,000.

Brazil had an infant mortality rate of 53 per thousand births in 1990 and 13 per thousand births in 2020.

In this Portuguese-speaking country, infant deaths decreased from 194,000 in 1990 to 38,000 in 2020.

The neonatal mortality rate was 25 per thousand births in 1990, 19 in 2000 and nine in 2020, while neonatal deaths reached 94,000 (1990), 65,000 (2000) and 25,000 (2020).

In Cabo Verde, the under-five mortality rate per thousand births was 60 in 1990, 38 in 2000 and 14 in 2020. There were 1,000 under-five deaths in 1990 and no deaths were recorded in the following decades.

The infant mortality rate (per thousand births) was 47 in 1990 and 30 years later it was 12. The number of infant deaths, which was 1,000 in 1990, fell to zero in 2020.

The neonatal morality rate was 20 per thousand births in 1990, 18 in 2000 and nine in 2020. No neonatal deaths were identified in the document during these periods.

In Guinea-Bissau, the infant mortality rate before the age of five was 222 (per thousand births) in 1990, 174 in 2000 and 77 in 2020.

Deaths before the fifth birthday were: 10,000 in 1990, 8,000 in 2000 and 5,000 in 2020.

In this country, the infant mortality rate (per thousand births) was 131 in 1990 and 51 in 2020. There were 6,000 infant deaths in 1990 and 3,000 in 2020.

The neonatal mortality rate was 64 per 1,000 births in 1990, 55 in 2000 and 35 in 2020. Neonatal deaths reached 3,000 in 1990, the same number in 2000 and 2,000 in 2020.

In Equatorial Guinea, the last country to join the CPLP, the infant mortality rate before the age of five was 178 (per thousand births) in 1990, 156 in 2000 and 78 in 2020.

Deaths under the age of five reached 3,000 in 1990, rose to 4,000 in 2000 and fell back to 3,000 in 2020.

The infant mortality rate per thousand births in Equatorial Guinea was 121 in 1990 and 58 in 2020, while infant deaths stood at 2,000 in 1990 and 3,000 three decades later.

The neonatal mortality rate was 48 per thousand births in 1990, 44 in 2000 and 29 in 2020. The number of neonatal deaths was the same in all three periods: 1,000.

Mozambique had an under-five mortality rate per thousand births of 245 in 1990, which fell to 170 in 2000 and 71 in 2020.

There were 142,000 infant deaths in 1990, 128,000 in 2000 and 79,000 in 2020.

The infant mortality rate (per thousand births) in Mozambique was 163 in 1990 and 53 30 years later. The number of infant deaths has decreased from 95,000 in 1990 to 60,000 in 2020.

The neonatal mortality rate was 63 per thousand births in 1990, 47 in 2000 and 28 in 2020, while neonatal deaths in those years were 38,000, 37,000 and 33,000 respectively.

Portugal had an under-five mortality rate of 15 per thousand births in 1990, a figure that fell to seven in 2000 and three in 2020.

In this country, 2,000 children under five died in 1990, 1,000 in 2000 and none in 2020.

The infant mortality rate went from 12 per 1,000 births in 1990 to three per 1,000 births in 2020. Infant deaths, which were 1,000 in 1990, were zero in 2020.

With regard to the neonatal mortality rate, it stood at seven per 1,000 births in 1990, three in 2000 and two in 2020. Neonatal deaths were 1.000 in 1990, with no further records in the following decades.

São Tomé and Príncipe had an under-five mortality rate of 108 per 1,000 births in 1990, a figure that fell to 82 in 2000 and 16 in 2020.

No under-five deaths are indicated in the report.

The infant mortality rate in this African country was 69 per thousand births in 1990 and 13 per thousand births in 2020.

With regard to the neonatal mortality rate, it was 26 per thousand births in 1990, 22 in 2000 and eight in 2020. No neonatal deaths are indicated for the three dates.

In 1990, Timor-Leste had an under-five mortality rate of 175 per 1,000 live births, a number that decreased to 108 in 2000 and 42 in 2020.

In this country 5,000 children under five died in 1990, 4,000 in 2000 and 2,000 in 2020.

The infant mortality rate stood at 132 per thousand births in 1990 and 37 in 2020. Infant deaths fell from 4,000 (1990) to 1,000 in 2020.

With regard to the neonatal mortality rate, it stood at 57 per thousand births in 1990, 38 in 2000 and 19 in 2020. Neonatal deaths also fell from 2,000 in 1990 to 1,000 in 2000 and remain at this level in 2020.

According to the report, an estimated five million children died before their fifth birthday and another 2.1 million children and young people between 5-24 years old lost their lives in 2021.