International aid cuts, UN report: Child mortality rate risks rising

A report published by the United Nations warns that cuts to international aid could lead to the deaths of many children, at a time when mortality among those under 5 has decreased in recent years.

The annual report, which is compiled by UNICEF, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank, does not specifically mention the United States. However, it comes weeks after the Trump administration announced it was cutting off most of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) programs, which had an annual budget of $42.8 billion.

"The global health community has never been more concerned," Fuzia Shafiq, a UNICEF official who deals with health issues, told Agence France-Presse.

In 2023, under-five mortality continued to decline, with 4.8 million deaths, including 2.3 million newborn babies who were less than one month old, according to the report.

Having fallen below 5 million for the first time in 2022, this new historic figure marks a 52% decline since 2000. Also, since 2015, progress has begun to slow, a trend that has been exacerbated by the diversion of funds for several years to address the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Without the right policy choices and sufficient investment, we risk seeing a reversal of hard-won progress,” warned UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. “We cannot allow this to happen,” she added.

The consequences of funding cuts, the report warns, will be most severe where mortality rates were already highest: in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

"Simply put, if support for vital services is not continued, many countries can expect an explosion in infant and child deaths," the report says.

Some consequences have already begun to be felt: lack of medical personnel, closure of clinics, problems in vaccination programs, lack of medications, especially for treating the plague.

One example is Ethiopia, where malaria is still a major problem. Fuzia Shafiq from UNICEF explained that the country faces a lack of diagnostic tests, no insecticide-treated mosquito nets, and no resources for mosquito eradication campaigns.

Another report by the same institutions expresses concern about the mortality rate of stillbirths, which will reach 1.9 million by 2023. “Every day, more than 5,000 women experience the sad experience of giving birth to a stillborn child,” the report says.

With medical care and treatment during pregnancy, many of these deaths can be prevented, as can babies who are born prematurely and are very weak.

Deaths of young children can be reduced more broadly by combating treatable diseases, such as pneumonia and diarrhea.

"From fighting the plague to preventing stillbirths, to providing care for the youngest children, we can make a difference for millions of families," assured WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.