Accra, May 29, GNA - UNICEF's State of Africa's Children Report has asked sub-Saharan African countries to work at reducing under-five mortality by 10 per cent annually in the next eight years, if the region is to attain the two-thirds reduction target in the Millennium Development Goals.

A statement issued by UNICEF in Accra on Thursday said the Report revealed that the sub-region remained the worst, recording nine out of the 10 highest under-five mortality rates in the world. The Report launched in Japan on Wednesday complemented UNICEF's flagship publication of "The State of the World's Children", offering an African perspective on trends in child survival and health. Sierra Leone, the Report said, ranked highest, with 270 deaths per 1,000 live births, followed by Angola, where the under-five mortality rate in 2006 was the same as in 1990 (260 per 1,000 births). It indicated that in 2006, five million children died on the African continent before reaching their fifth birthday, representing an average of nearly 14,000 a day.

According to the Report, sub-Saharan Africa had also done little to reduce its under-five mortality rate, recording only one-third reduction during the 36-year period between 1970 and 2006. It also mentioned three countries - the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia and Nigeria - as accounting for more than 43 per cent of total under-five deaths in all of Africa.

The Report also showed that around 45 per cent of the population in the sub-region did not have improved drinking water sources. "Of these, 54 million are children under five. More than 60 per cent remain without access to improved sanitation facilities." On progress made, the Report said since 1990, each of the five countries in North Africa - Algeria, Egypt, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Morocco and Tunisia - had reduced its child mortality rate by at least 45 per cent, putting them well on track to meet Millennium Development Goal 4. It stated that under-five mortality rates had also fallen by 40 per cent or more since 1990 in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Malawi and Mozambique. The Report indicated that deaths from measles in Africa had decreased by over 90 per cent between 2000 and 2006. It said the use of insecticide treated mosquito nets among children under-five in sub-Saharan Africa had at also tripled in 16 countries since 2000, while access to HIV antiretroviral treatment for children under-15 increased from 12 per cent in 2005 to 17 per cent in 2006 in eastern and southern Africa.

The Report also indicated that exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months of life in sub-Saharan Africa also rose from 22 per cent in 1996 to around 30 per cent in 2006. Ghana, Benin, Madagascar and Malawi raised their exclusive breastfeeding rates to above 50 per cent in the same period under review. 29 May 08