Assembly/AU/ 6 (X)I Page 3 A. GOAL 4: Reduce Child Mortality Reduce By Two-Thirds, Between 1990 and 2015, the Under-Five Mortality Rate: Target 5 Under-five mortality rates in the African Region dropped from 185 per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 165 per 1,000 in 2005 1 hardly making a dent in the objective of a two-thirds reduction by 2015. In countries where progress is lagging or where child mortality has increased, AIDS is likely to be a major contributing factor. Malaria, pneumonia and diarrhea too continue to kill vast numbers of children. In other countries, war and conflict have been the leading causes of increasing child mortality in the recent past. In many countries coverage of proven cost-effective interventions is too scanty to result in a significant impact in mortality reduction. Current strategies to reduce the unacceptably high under five mortality include: the implementation at scale of a key package of cost effective interventions including: Africa Health Strategy, Newborn care; Infant and young child feeding including micronutrient supplementation; Prevention of malaria using insecticide treated nets; Immunization; Management of common childhood illnesses, IMCI; Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV and care & treatment of HIV exposed or infected children. • Under-five mortality rate: Indicator 13 Children in sub-Saharan Africa face the gravest challenges in terms of survival. The Region accounts for 44 percent of the world’s under-five mortality and each year over 4.6 million children under the age of 5 years die in Africa. Most of these deaths are due to common, preventable and treatable conditions occurring singly or in combination: Neonatal causes (26%), Respiratory infections (21%), Malaria (17%), Diarrhea diseases (17%), HIV/AIDS (7%), and others (4%). Malnutrition is associated with at least 50% of deaths. Currently only five African countries are on track in achieving the MDG. Twenty one (21) countries are making progress but it is insufficient. 1 World Health Statistics, 2007, World Health Organization 2007, UNICEF, Child Survival 2004