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Health
Every child has the right to survive and thrive.

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All children have the right to survive and thrive. Yet, children and adolescents still
face significant challenges surviving past infancy and developing to their full
potential.

In 2019, 6.1 million children and young adolescents died, mostly from preventable
causes. Children under the age of 5 accounted for 5.2 million of these deaths –
nearly half of whom were newborn babies.

Every six seconds, a child under the age of 5 dies somewhere in the
world.

What’s more, some 810 women die each day from causes related to pregnancy and
childbirth. Many of these deaths can be avoided. But inadequate access to quality
and equitable health care and life-saving supplies still contributes significantly to
preventable maternal, newborn and child deaths, as well as stillbirths.

Adolescents are more exposed to accidents and injuries, unintended pregnancies

and the physical, mental and economic repercussions of HIV and AIDS, and non-
communicable diseases such as mental ill-health, heart disease, stroke, cancer,
diabetes and chronic lung disease.

For children and adolescents in emergency and humanitarian settings, health risks
escalate. Life-saving health services are often unavailable or inaccessible, making
newborns, children, adolescents and mothers particularly vulnerable to harm.

Nearly 40 per cent of the global under-five deaths occurred in countries suffering
humanitarian crises.

In the coming decades, demographic changes threaten to strain global health

systems. Some 2 billion births are projected worldwide between 2018 and 2050.
Africa remains the world’s only region anticipating a substantial increase in births,
with repercussions for thinly stretched health systems. In Asia, ageing populations
are also expected to put pressure on health systems.

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© UNICEF/UN0232350
Baby Hadja, 6 months old, with mother Esther Tabu, 24 years old, at a community outreach point in
Juba, South Sudan.

UNICEF's work in health

Despite the scale of the challenge, solutions are in sight. Achieving the Sustainable
Development Goals requires a global shift from treating diseases to strengthening
health systems so that all children, adolescents and women of reproductive age have
access to affordable, quality health care.

UNICEF works around the world – including in some of the hardest-to-reach places –
to help children survive and thrive. Through public and private partnerships at the
global, national and community levels, we focus on:

Maternal, newborn and child survival

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sustaining immunization programmes, and supporting preventive, promotive and
curative services for pneumonia, diarrhoea, malaria and other child health

conditions.

 
Child and adolescent health and well-being
UNICEF is committed to helping children and adolescents build a solid foundation
for adulthood. We support national health plans on adolescent health and well-being,
improve age-specific health services for children and adolescents, and help countries
combat non-communicable diseases including mental ill-health, prevent injuries and
better support children with developmental delays and disabilities.

Strengthening health systems

UNICEF supports primary health care, especially at the community level, to help
achieve universal health coverage. We work to strengthen health systems to deliver
integrated services for children, adolescents and women of reproductive age –
focusing on health; nutrition; early childhood development; HIV and AIDS; and water,
sanitation and hygiene. Our work also promotes overall health and well-being by
focusing on education, child protection and social inclusion.

Health in emergencies and humanitarian settings

UNICEF tackles health challenges in places affected by conflicts, natural disasters,

migration, urbanization, and political and economic instability, by supporting direct
responses to emergencies and helping to develop resilient health systems that can
withstand crises.

Resources

UNICEF Health Programme Results 2020: Key highlights

Read more about the UNICEF key results for maternal, newborn and adolescent
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health, immunization, child health, HIV and AIDS, and primary health care. 
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Annual Report for Health 2020

Read more about UNICEF’s progress expanding access to quality health care for
children and adolescents around the globe.

UNICEF Health Strategy, 2016–2030

Read more about UNICEF’s approach to end preventable maternal, newborn and child
deaths and promote the health and development of all children. 

A Neglected Tragedy: The Global Burden of Stillbirths

This report is the first publication by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality
Estimation, which exclusively looks at data around stillbirths.

Levels and Trends in Child Mortality, 2020

This report from UNICEF and partners shows the full scope of child mortality rates
across the world, as well as the progress made towards meeting Sustainable
Development Goal targets.

This report is the first publication by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality
Estimation, which exclusively looks at data around stillbirths.

Subnational Under-five Mortality Estimates, 1990–2019

The brochure and accompanying data visualizations provide subnational under-five

mortality rate estimates from 1990-2019 for 22 countries across sub-Saharan Africa
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and Southern Asia.
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Ending preventable newborn deaths and stillbirths by 2030
In this document, ENAP provides a roadmap to end preventable newborn mortality,
reduce disability and end preventable stillbirths by 2030.

Every Child Alive: The Urgent Need to End Newborn Deaths

Read more about what needs to be done to accelerate global efforts to end
preventable newborn deaths.

UNICEF Health Systems Strengthening Approach (Full version)

(Summary)

Read more about UNICEF’s approach to building strong health systems that reach
every child. 

UNICEF Data

UNICEF collects and disseminates comprehensive data on children’s health around

the world.

UNICEF Health Newsletter

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 More from UNICEF

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 Photo Essay

The unsung heroes of the pandemic

Extraordinary people are going above and beyond to serve their communities.

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Article

COVID-19 and the need to improve health systems

A year after the world’s largest vaccine supply operation began, here’s what needs to happen
next

Read the story

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