The Star Online: Lifestyle: Parenting
The Star Online: Lifestyle: Parenting |
| Report: Early childhood deaths halved since 1990 Posted: Despite improved figures, millions of children died before their fifth birthday last year. EARLY childhood deaths around the world have been cut in half since 1990 but some 18,000 children under five still die every day, according to a new report out today. Around 6.6 million children perished before their fifth birthday last year, compared to 12.6 million in 1990, said the report by Unicef, the World Bank and the World Health Organisation. The report credited more effective and affordable treatments, new ways of delivering healthcare to the poor, as well as political commitment for the gains. But it also underscored that much remained to be done. "This trend is a positive one. Millions of lives have been saved," said Anthony Lake, Unicef executive director. However, "most of these deaths can be prevented, using simple steps that many countries have already put in place. What we need is a greater sense of urgency". All regions except Oceania and sub-Saharan Africa saw more than a 50% decline. In eastern Asia, early childhood deaths have dropped by 74% and in Northern Africa the decline was 69%. But child mortality rates were still elevated in some regions, with around 80% of under-five deaths in 2012 still taking place in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Currently, some 18,000 children under five die every day. Half of those deaths take place in five countries: China, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, India, Nigeria, and Pakistan. The immediate causes are mostly pneumonia, prematurity, birth asphyxia, diarrhoea and malaria, according to the report. But 45% can be linked to undernutrition, it said. The report also said that, despite the improvements, the effort to cut childhood mortality was falling short of the target set in the Millennium Development Goals – bringing the rate down by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015. – AFP |
| Women, don't wait too long to have babies Posted: Start family before turning 35, say experts. MEDICAL experts speaking at the British Science Festival in Newcastle this week aren't mincing words: women who want a family should have babies before turning 35. For most women, fertility takes a nose dive in their mid-30s, they said. Yet recent trends in some countries, including Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom, show that women are waiting later to focus on career or to save money, experts from Newcastle University said. While IVF treatments can help women have children later in life, their chances of success using their own eggs rather than donor eggs fall at the same rate as their fertility, they warned. "What we can say for sure is that reproductive technologies do not do much to buy time," said reproductive biologist Prof Mary Herbert, according to The Telegraph. "Perhaps the most important message to give is that the best cure of all is to have your babies before this clock strikes 12." "I would be getting worried about my daughter if she hadn't had a child by 35," she added. According to WebMD, Britain's National Health Service says that about 95% of women aged 35 who have regular unprotected sexual intercourse will get pregnant after three years of trying. For women aged 38, only 75% will do so. – AFP Relaxnews |
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