Many of 9.7 million child deaths ‘preventable’

NEW YORK — In 2006, nearly 9.7 million children under 5 died — and the vast majority of those deaths could have been prevented, according to a new United Nations (U.N.) report. Sierra Leone, Angola and Afghanistan ranked as the countries where children were most likely to die.

Diarrhea, malaria or malnutrition caused most of the childhood deaths, the U.N. Children’s Fund reported. Simple health-care measures such as vaccinations, mosquito nets and vitamin supplements would have prevented many of the deaths.

The global mortality rate for young children has been reduced by 23 percent since 1990, the report noted. The rate worldwide in 2006 was 72 deaths per 1,000 births, while the average in industrialized countries was six deaths per 1,000 births. Sierra Leone’s child mortality rate was 270 deaths per 1,000 births. Twenty-eight of the 30 countries with the highest child mortality rates were in West Africa.