Child deaths across the world have nearly halved in the last twenty years. So says a new report from Unicef a part of the United Nations. The dreadful figure of 12 million under fives who died in 1990 was reduced to 7 million last year.
Sadly rates remain high in Saharan north Africa where one in every nine children dies before their fifth birthday. There has been a sharp drop in countries like Laos, East Timor and Liberia which have received significant aid.