Mortality among under 5s falls below 10 million for first time

The annual number of deaths of children aged 5 years or younger reached a record low last year, says Unicef, falling for the first time to less than 10 million—to 9.7 million, down from 12.7 million in 1990.

“More children are surviving today than ever before. Now we must build on this public health success to push for the achievement of the millennium development goals,” said Unicef's chief, Ann Veneman. But she also said that there is no room for complacency.

“The loss of 9.7 million young lives each year is unacceptable. Most of these deaths are preventable—and, as recent progress shows, the solutions are tried and tested,” she added.

Of the 9.7 million children who died in 2006, 4.8 million were from …