AIDS major obstacle in child deaths - UN

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) has warned that HIV/AIDS is a major obstacle to countries' fulfilment of the UN Millennium Goal of reducing child mortality rates by two-thirds by 2015.

In its annual Progress for Children report, the agency says poor prenatal care and a raft of other preventable illnesses were also responsible for the small progress made in reducing child deaths.

UNICEF director Carol Bellamy said, "The world has the tools to improve child survival ... it is incredible that in an age of technological and medical marvels, child survival is so tenuous in so many places, especially for the poor and marginalised. We can do better than this."

Sierra Leone had the highest child mortality rate, with 284 deaths per 1,000 births, while the number of child deaths in Swaziland rose by 39 percent, Botswana's rate grew by 37 percent and that of Zimbabwe by 25 percent.