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Addis Ababa January 16/2013 Ethiopia is placed fourth among the ten African countries , which managed to reduce preventable deaths of children under five, a study presented at the three-day African Leadership for Child Survival- A Promise Renewed conference indicated.
According to the study conducted in ten African countries from 2000 to 2011, Ethiopia became the fourth country in reducing under five mortality rates following Senegal, Malawi and Zambia.
Ethiopia has reduced the number of preventable deaths of children under five by 60 percent over the past 20 years since 1990.
Currently under five children mortality has been reduced to 88 per 10,000 live births from the 217 deaths few years ago.
Speaking at the conference Health Minister, Dr Kesetebirhan Admasu said the huge investment in building strong, well-functioning and accessible health delivery system enabled the country to minimize child mortality over the past years.
He said the government in collaboration with partners has been working to expand access to basic health services through increasing the number of health facilities and health professionals.
The Minister also stressed the need to increase the current pace more than ever to reach a more challenging goal of reducing child mortality below 20 by 2035.
The conference is aimed at accelerating reductions in preventable child deaths through sharper national plans and improved monitoring and evaluation.
It follows last year's Child Survival Call to Action, which was co-convened by the governments of Ethiopia, India and the USA with UNICEF and launched a global roadmap to end preventable deaths of children under five.
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