General

Brazil cuts down child mortality rate

The drop is the most significant among Portuguese-speaking countries

Gilberto Costa

Published on 19/09/2018 - 15:25

Brasília

Brazil was the Portuguese-speaking country reported to see the most significant reduction in mortality rate among children aged five and younger from 1990 to 2017.

In this period, the child mortality rate went from 63 to 15 in every thousand born alive—a drop averaging 5.3 percent a year. The most conspicuous fall was observed in Portugal (5.1 percent every year), whose mortality rate in 2017 stood at eight for every thousand born alive—half of that of Brazil in 2017.

According to the UN’s Levels and Trends in Child Mortality, published in Geneva, the conditions facing children in Brazil and Portugal are the best in any Portuguese-speaking country. In 2017, 17 children aged up to five died in every thousand in Cape Verde, 32 in São Tomé and Príncipe; 42 in Mozambique, and 48 in East Timor. Last year, Angola had 81 deaths in every thousand, and Guinea-Bissau had 84.

Child mortality—like longevity—is among the health indicators used to calculate the human development index (HDI) of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). Brazil (79th) is nearly 40 positions below Porugal (41st) in the HDI ranking.