UN: 6.6 Million Children Under 5 Died In 2012

The logo of the United Nations Childrens Fund, UNICEF, is pictured at their German headquarters in Cologne. (REUTERS/Ina Fassbender)

UN: Child Mortality Rate Reduced by Half -- Voice of America

GENEVA — A new report says the number of global deaths among children under age five is almost half what it was 22 years ago. A joint report by the United Nations Children’s Fund, the World Health Organization,and World Bank finds about 6.6 million children died before reaching their fifth birthday in 2012 compared to 12 million children who died in 1990.

The report calls the progress being made in cutting child deaths remarkable. However, it says this is still not good enough. It says most child deaths are preventable, and that by applying a number of simple, affordable measures, more children’s lives can be saved.

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More News On The United Nation's Report That 6.6 Million Children Under 5 Died In 2012

UN: 6.6 million children under 5 died last year -- AP
Global child mortality rates "halved" -- IRIN
Early childhood deaths halved since 1990 -- Global Post/AFP
About 6.6 Million Under – Five Children Died Last Year: UNICEF Report -- Top News
Around 6 million children under five died in 2012: UNICEF -- World Bulletin
Global Child Deaths Down By Almost Half Since 1990: Report -- RTT
New Data Shows Global Reduction in Child Mortality -- Digital Journal
90 million child deaths prevented since 1990, UNICEF says -- Toronto Star

Children Of America's Wars

Headstone for Johnny Micheal Spann in Arlington National Cemetery (Section 34, Site 2359). Wikipedia

A Child Of War, With A Sense Of Purpose -- Wayne Drash, CNN

Arlington, Virginia (CNN) -- Alison Spann walks purposefully behind the marble headstones, just as her father taught her.

He brought her here, to Arlington National Cemetery, as a girl. He pointed out the names of the dead and the wars that took their lives. He told her to look around and appreciate the sacrifice of the fallen.

The two walked together along the rows of headstones and turned when they got to a grave they were visiting. It was the proper way to walk in a cemetery, he told her, by not stepping where people are buried, a way of respecting them long after death.

Her father taught her many things. To be headstrong. To strive for a stellar education. To remember that a girl can conquer anything.

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My Comment: Our prayers are with her and with all children of war.

Global Child Malnutrition On The Rise

A boy sits looking over the Seyidka settlement for the famine-stricken internally displaced people in Berkulan, near Somalia's capital Mogadishu, September 6, 2011. Photo: Reuters

Poor Diet Kills 2.6 Million Infants A Year, Says Survey By Save The Children -- The Guardian

Charity calls on David Cameron to host a world hunger summit in London along with 2012 Olympics.

Malnutrition is the root cause of the deaths of 2.6 million children each year, and the bodies and brains of 450 million more will fail to develop properly due to inadequate diet over the next 15 years unless immediate action is taken, according to a survey published on Wednesday by a leading international charity.

The survey of developing countries, A Life Free from Hunger, produced by Save the Children, estimates one in four children are already stunted because of malnutrition.

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More News On 'Save The Children' Report On Child Malnutrition

500m children 'at risk of effects of malnutrition' -- BBC
Study: Malnutrition Causes 2.6 Million Child Deaths Annually -- Voice of America
Malnutrition 'puts 450m children at risk of stunting' -- AFP
The Hunger Epidemic: 300 Children Die Every Hour From Malnutrition as World's Poor Cut Back on Food -- IBTimes
5 children die every minute from malnutrition: Report -- Toronto Star/AP
Study: Malnutrition Causes 2.6 Million Child Deaths Annually -- Voice of America
1 in 4 children malnourished - report -- News24
Special report: The hungry generation -- The Independent
Half A Billion Children At Risk From Malnutrition -- Medical News Today
Half of Indian kids below five underweight: NGO -- Zee News
The silent cost of child malnutrition in the Democratic Republic of the Congo -- The Guardian
Political unrest deepens plight of Yemen children -- Reuters

950,000 children worldwide killed by injury, violence

From CNN:

(CNN) -- The summer that her family bought a soft-sided pool, Charisse Nurnberg of Assaria, Kansas, tried to keep her children safe from water-related injuries. She kept all the doors locked and would even have her young son Matt wear a life jacket while he played inside.

But one day in August 2002, 3-year-old Matt got into the pool unsupervised. An ambulance rushed him to the hospital, but it was too late. He had drowned.

"You don't think it can happen to you, you think you've got things under control, and it just happens to other people," Charisse Nurnberg said. "It is just, I think, probably about the most horrible experience a parent can live through."

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My Comment: No stats on how many children die from starvation and starvation related illnesses.