Investing in the health and survival of the most deprived children and communities delivers more value for money than investments in less deprived groups – saving almost twice as many lives for every million dollars spent, according to a new report from UNICEF.
The report’s findings give weight to claims made by UNICEF several years ago that the higher cost of reaching the poorest children with life-saving health interventions is outweighed by the greater results seen as a result.
Called Narrowing the Gaps, the report drew on data from the 51 countries where 80 per cent of all newborn and under five deaths occur to show that life-saving interventions among poor people groups helped decrease child mortality among those groups nearly three times faster than among non-poor people groups.
Anthony Lake, UNICEF’s executive director, describes the evidence as “compelling”.
“This is critical news for governments working to end all preventable child deaths at a time when every dollar counts. Investing equitably in children’s health also saves futures and helps break intergenerational cycles of poverty. A healthy child has a better chance of learning more in school and earning more as an adult.”
It is predicted that unless there is an acceleration of efforts to reduce child mortality rates, almost 70 million children will die before their fifth birthday by 2030.
