(October 23, 2007 - Insidermedicine) Improving nutrition and providing clean water and sanitation to young children could lower the death rate by about one-third in Africa, say experts in a report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

In 2000, the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, or MDGs, established annual targets to cut world poverty in half by the year 2015. The goals include:
•    Reducing the mortality rate among children under five by two thirds
•    Reducing the proportion of people who suffer from hunger by half
•    Reducing the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water by half

There are concerns, however, that the progress toward some of the health-related goals has been too slow in many countries. In order to efficiently allocate resources, more information is needed regarding how interventions related to one development goal might affect progress toward other goals.

In the present study, researchers aimed to estimate the reduction in child deaths resulting from interventions related to improving child nutrition and providing clean water, sanitation, and cooking and heating fuels.

Information on economic status, child weight, water and sanitation, and household fuels were collected from international health surveys for countries in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

It was estimated that interventions to improve child nutrition and provide clean water and sanitation and clean household fuels to all children under five would result in 24% fewer deaths in South Asia and 31% fewer deaths in sub-Saharan Africa. It is expected that the interventions would substantially reduce the differences between poor and wealthier households especially if they were targeted towards the poorest first.

These findings highlight the need for funding, implementing, and monitoring such interventions so that they reach the world’s poorest people. If you live in a developed country, find out what is your country doing to make MDG happen by the 2015 deadline.

For Insidermedicine in Depth, I'm Dr. Susan Sharma.