Concern over number of children dying before five

Half a million children under the age of five die each year in Ethiopia because of illnesses such as malaria and measles, as well as pneumonia, diarrhoea, and malnutrition.

Deputy Health Minister Dr Demissie Tadesse said three out four children taken to a health centre suffered from at least one of the illnesses.

Speaking at a conference on the Integrated Management of Childhood Diseases (IMCI), he said that in Ethiopia around 140 children out of every 1,000 would die before reaching their fifth birthday.

“More than 70 percent of these child deaths are due to five diseases namely pneumonia, diarrhoea, malaria, measles and malnutrition and often to a combination of these conditions and HIV/AIDS,” he said.

Demissie added that the IMCI offered an effective way to tackle the illnesses that children suffered from in Ethiopia, while at the same time improving the overall healthcare of the country.

The IMCI - which has been developed through the World Health Organisation and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) - has three components: improving the management skills of health workers, improving health system support and improvements in household and community practices.

But Ibrahim Jabr, the head of UNICEF in Ethiopia, said still more needed to be done and expressed concern over low vaccination rates around the country.

“There is no minute to waste”, he said, in improving the overall strategy of ICMI. He expressed concern over bad practices such as giving babies solid food too early.