9th May, 2007

Iraq has made the least progress - and Egypt the most - in saving the lives of children aged under five since 1990, according to a report from humanitarian organisation Save the Children.

In its eighth annual State of the World’s Mothers Report, the US-based organisation says that while Egypt has achieved a 68 per cent decline in child deaths in the past 15 years, in Iraq the child mortality rate as risen by 150 per cent since 1990.

It says that 122,000 Iraqi children died in 2005 before reaching their fifth birthday with more than half of the deaths newborn babies who died in the first month of life.

The report includes the first ever child survival progress rankings for 60 developing countries which account for 94 per cent of all child deaths worldwide.

It found that 20 of the 60 nations have either made no progress in reducing deaths or actually had child mortality rates increase since 1990. As well as Iraq, those countries that have regressed the most include Botswana, Zimbabwe and Swaziland.

On the positive side, the report says countries including Malawi, Bangladesh, Nepal, Tanzania and Madagascar are making “great strides” in child survival.

~ www.savethechildren.org

- DAVID ADAMS