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Objective: The objective of the paper is to explore if the adoption of national policies to use community-based health providers for the management of pneumonia and diarrhoea is associated with the decline in under-five mortality, including achievement of the Millennium Development Goal (MDG)4 target, in high-burden countries., Setting: This country level analysis covers 75 high-burden low-income and middle-income countries which accounted for 98% of the 5.9 million global under-five deaths in 2015. One-fourth of these deaths were due to pneumonia and diarrhoea., Methods: χ 2 tests and multiple regression analysis were used to examine the association between reduction in under-five mortality rates and community case management of pneumonia and diarrhoea by adjusting for the influence of other possible determinants., Participants: No patient or population interviewed/examined for this analysis. Countries were the unit of analysis., Interventions: Community case management (CCM) of pneumonia and diarrhoea policies., Outcome Measures: Changes in under-five mortality rates over time., Results: Countries that had adopted both CCM policies were three times more likely to achieve the MDG4 target than countries that did not have both policies in place. This association was further confirmed by the multivariate analysis (β-coefficient=10.4; 95% CI 2.4 to 18.5; p value=0.012)., Discussion: There is a statistically significant association between adoption of CCM policies for treatment of pneumonia and diarrhoea and the rate of decline in child mortality levels. It is important to promote CCM in countries lagging behind to achieve the new target of 25 or fewer deaths per 1000 live births by 2030., (Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.)

The study was conducted to analyze recent trends in the coverage of selected child-survival interventions. A systematic analysis of the coverage of six key child-health interventions in 29 African and Asian countries that had two recent demographic and health surveys--the latest one carried out in 2001 onwards and the immediately preceding survey conducted after 1990--was undertaken. A regression model was used for examining the relationship between the changes in the coverage of interventions and the changes in rates of mortality among children aged less than five years (under-five mortality). A limited increase in the coverage of key child-health interventions occurred in the past 5-10 years in these 29 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. More than half of the countries had no significant improvement or a significant reduction in the coverage of oral rehydration therapy (ORT) for diarrhoea (17/29) and care-seeking for acute respiratory infection (ARI) (16/29). Results of multivariate analysis revealed that increases in the coverage of early initiation of breastfeeding, ORT for diarrhoea, and care-seeking for ARI were significantly associated with reductions in under-five mortality. The results of this analysis should serve as a wake-up call for policymakers and programme managers in countries, donors, and international agencies to accelerate efforts to increase the coverage of key child-survival interventions. The following three main actions are proposed: setting of the clear target; mobilization of resources for increasing skilled birth attendants and health workers trained in integrated management of childhood illness; and implementation of community-based approaches.

Objective: The major objective of this study is to provide estimates of diarrhoea mortality at country, regional and global level by employing the Child Health Epidemiology Reference Group (CHERG) standard., Methods: A systematic and comprehensive literature review was undertaken of all studies published since 1980 reporting under-5 diarrhoea mortality. Information was collected on characteristics of each study and its population. A regression model was used to relate these characteristics to proportional mortality from diarrhoea and to predict its distribution in national populations., Findings: Global deaths from diarrhoea of children aged less than 5 years were estimated at 1.87 million (95% confidence interval, CI: 1.56-2.19), approximately 19% of total child deaths. WHO African and South-East Asia Regions combined contain 78% (1.46 million) of all diarrhoea deaths occurring among children in the developing world; 73% of these deaths are concentrated in just 15 developing countries., Conclusion: Planning and evaluation of interventions to control diarrhoea deaths and to reduce under-5 mortality is obstructed by the lack of a system that regularly generates cause-of-death information. The methods used here provide country-level estimates that constitute alternative information for planning in settings without adequate data.

Background: Valid information about cause-specific child mortality and morbidity is an essential foundation for national and international health policy. We undertook a systematic review to investigate the geographical dispersion of and time trends in publication for policy-relevant information about children's health and to assess associations between the availability of reliable data and poverty., Methods: We identified data available on Jan 1, 2001, and published since 1980, for the major causes of morbidity and mortality in young children. Studies with relevant data were assessed against a set of inclusion criteria to identify those likely to provide unbiased estimates of the burden of childhood disease in the community., Findings: Only 308 information units from more than 17,000 papers identified were regarded as possible unbiased sources for estimates of childhood disease burden. The geographical distribution of these information units revealed a pattern of small well-researched populations surrounded by large areas with little available information. No reliable population-based data were identified from many of the world's poorest countries, which account for about a third of all deaths of children worldwide. The number of new studies diminished over the last 10 years investigated., Interpretation: The number of population-based studies yielding estimates of burden of childhood disease from less developed countries was low. The decreasing trend over time suggests reductions in research investment in this sphere. Data are especially sparse from the world's least developed countries with the highest child mortality. Guidelines are needed for the conduct of burden-of-disease studies together with an international research policy that gives increased emphasis to global equity and coverage so that knowledge can be generated from all regions of the world.

Background: Child survival efforts can be effective only if they are based on accurate information about causes of deaths. Here, we report on a 4-year effort by WHO to improve the accuracy of this information., Methods: WHO established the external Child Health Epidemiology Reference Group (CHERG) in 2001 to develop estimates of the proportion of deaths in children younger than age 5 years attributable to pneumonia, diarrhoea, malaria, measles, and the major causes of death in the first 28 days of life. Various methods, including single-cause and multi-cause proportionate mortality models, were used. The role of undernutrition as an underlying cause of death was estimated in collaboration with CHERG., Findings: In 2000-03, six causes accounted for 73% of the 10.6 million yearly deaths in children younger than age 5 years: pneumonia (19%), diarrhoea (18%), malaria (8%), neonatal pneumonia or sepsis (10%), preterm delivery (10%), and asphyxia at birth (8%). The four communicable disease categories account for more than half (54%) of all child deaths. The greatest communicable disease killers are similar in all WHO regions with the exception of malaria; 94% of global deaths attributable to this disease occur in the Africa region. Undernutrition is an underlying cause of 53% of all deaths in children younger than age 5 years., Interpretation: Achievement of the millennium development goal of reducing child mortality by two-thirds from the 1990 rate will depend on renewed efforts to prevent and control pneumonia, diarrhoea, and undernutrition in all WHO regions, and malaria in the Africa region. In all regions, deaths in the neonatal period, primarily due to preterm delivery, sepsis or pneumonia, and birth asphyxia should also be addressed. These estimates of the causes of child deaths should be used to guide public-health policies and programmes.