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BMJ 2005; 331 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/sbmj.0510nbites (Published 01 October 2005) Cite this as: BMJ 2005;331:0510nbites

Goals to reduce poverty and infant mortality will be missed

Published on the eve of the recent United Nations summit in New York, the UN's 2005 Human Development Report finds that progress on human development, public health, and education is slowing or stagnating in many parts of the world.

The report predicts that the UN's millennium development goals-a commitment made by 189 nations to reduce infant mortality and extreme poverty and to improve maternal health, primary education, and sex equality-are in many cases further from realisation today than they were in 1990.

As in previous years the annual report predicts that if current trends continue the world's failure to meet the goal on infant mortality will result in an extra 41 million children dying between now and 2015. On current trends, the report predicts, the world will not meet the goal of reducing child mortality by two thirds until 2045-30 years late. As for the goal of achieving universal primary education, 46 countries are currently going backwards or will not meet the target until after 2040, it says. The authors estimate that the income of the world's 500 richest people listed by Forbes magazine is equal to that of the world's poorest 416 million people.

http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cqi/content/full/331/7517/593-a/DC1

Medical students satisfied with their studies

Medical students in the UK are pleased with the education they're getting, according to the first national student satisfaction survey, published in The …

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