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child mortalitylatest news & developments
Child mortality rates remain unacceptably high. Poverty and inequality continue to shape life chances before a child is even born. (Photo: Supplied)
2026 STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS

Malnutrition could undo all the work of saving young lives

Reducing child mortality is possible. What remains is the courage to scale what works and to sustain it. If we are serious about ending child stunting by 2030, then we must act…

  • Shadi Nyokong
4 min read
Research from the University of the Witwatersrand shows that more than half of the deaths in newborns and about a third in infants were caused by just two types of bacteria. (Aditya Romansa/Unsplash)
ACINETOBACTER BAUMANNII

Two superbugs causing over half of infections that kill newborns in Soweto and outsmarting treatment

Over the past 10 years, researchers from the University of the Witwatersrand’s vaccines and infectious diseases analytics unit analysed small tissue samples of 1 586 children…

  • Linda Pretorius
  • Jacques Verryn
9 min read
The theme for World Health Day is ‘healthy beginnings, hopeful futures’ and aims to encourage governments to take actions to reduce mothers’ deaths during pregnancy and childbirth.
CHILD MORTALITY

World health: Progress after Covid — then Trump struck

On World Health Day, let’s not lose sight of hope, of taking action to make sure we create societies in which our children can not only survive but thrive

  • Mark Tomlinson
6 min read
Health surveillance workers in Malawi focus on under-fives and pregnant mothers
AFRICA

Four lessons from good policymaking in Africa

Instead of only focusing on what went wrong, analysing policies that have improved people’s lives helps governments NGOs in other actions

  • Pranish Desai
6 min read
A child at a clinic in Bamako. The country’s child mortality rate is among the highest in the world. (Muso)
BHEKISISA TEAM
Video

This president is putting his money where is mouth is when it comes to an NHI

Mali joins the ranks of countries such as Sierra Leone, South Africa & Burkina Faso to provide free healthcare to moms and tots.

  • Kate Hodal
5 min read
It’s important to put all the bad news in perspective, said Hans Rosling in his book Factfulness.
CHILD MORTALITY

Seven charts that show the world is actually becoming a better place

A look at key data shows that the world is much better off today than ever before in history

  • Staff Reporter
5 min read
Tipping point: Inadequate sanitation
APARTHEID

Hunger is still killing South Africa’s children

The state needs civil society to help to combat malnutrition, which stunts children’s potential

  • Lori Lake
5 min read
Get the picture: Despite criticism, online ‘big boys’ such as Mark Zuckerberg’s (centre) Facebook and Google, pose threats to new media because they put commercial interests above journalistic independence. (Leah Millis/Reuters)
CHILD MORTALITY

SA’s healthcare system in shabby state

Disease and death flourish while the number of doctors diminishes and the cost of health remains under the microscope, writes Shoks Mnisi Mzolo.

  • Shoks Mnisi Mzolo
9 min read
Newborn children in sub-Saharan Africa are 14 times more likely to die within the first month than those in high-income regions such as Australia and New Zealand.
BHEKISISA TEAM

Child mortality drops but still high

According to a Unicef report, South Africa has reduced its child mortality rate from 60 deaths per every 1 000 live births in 1990 to 41 in 2015.

  • Amy Green
  • Bhekisisa Team
2 min read
The theme for World Health Day is ‘healthy beginnings, hopeful futures’ and aims to encourage governments to take actions to reduce mothers’ deaths during pregnancy and childbirth.
AFP

Niger leads the world in child mortality reduction rates

Nongovernmental groups say Niger is the top country that managed to reduce its child mortality rates since 1990.

  • Staff Reporter
2 min read
Expect fat and salt content restrictions
AARON MOTSOALEDI

Motsoaledi: Promote breast-feeding by restricting formula

SA must "reposition, protect and support breast-feeding" — even restrict baby formula — to combat child mortality, says SA’s health minister.

  • Staff Reporter
2 min read
CHILD MORTALITY

‘We are failing our children’

SA is one of 12 countries that has failed to reduce child mortality since 1990, according to the 2009/10 SA Child Gauge, released on Tuesday.

  • Genevieve Quintal
3 min read
CHILD MORTALITY

HIV wipes out Namibia’s gains in reducing child mortality

The country was well on its way to reducing child mortality, but over the past decade the pandemic has annulled previous gains.

  • Kristin Palitza
5 min read