Archives of Disease in Childhood 2005;90:776-781
LEADING ARTICLE
Child health in Africa
Child health in Africa: 2005 a year of hope?
1 Department of Paediatrics, University of Wales, Cardiff and Country Director, Child Advocacy International
2 Royal Gwent Hospital, Newport, Wales, UK
3 University Hospital of North Staffordshire, Professor of Paediatrics at Keele University, and Honorary Medical Director of Child Advocacy International
Correspondence to:
Dr B O’Hare
Department of Paediatrics, University of Wales, Cardiff and Country Director, Child Advocacy International; bernadetteohare@doctors.org.uk
Accepted 20 September 2004
National and international factors impacting on child health in Africa
Keywords: Africa; less developed countries; debt; trade; conflict; HIV/Aids
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
In many African countries, one child in five dies before they are 5 years old compared to one in 150 in the UK.1,2 Eleven million children under 5 die each year, 40% of them in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).1 Factors that affect children’s health can be looked at in terms of issues that are proximal to the child (domestic or around the home), such as household income, and issues distal from the child (national or international factors), such as a country’s ability to provide free health care.
The link between poor child health and poverty is well established, and more than 99% of the deaths in children <5 years occur in a setting of poverty.3 Nutrition is highly correlated with income4 and the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Africa is malnutrition.5 More than 50% of all childhood deaths can be attributed to being underweight.1 The
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