Early Years
Around 250,000 children under the age of three die in our region each year as a result of preventable disease and malnutrition. For each child that dies, many more live on with permanent physical or mental disability. These deaths and illnesses could be prevented if parents had the right information, skills and services to help them care for their children. • At least 10% of children in the region have some disability, often caused by poor care and nutrition in the early years. • The region has the lowest exclusive breastfeeding rates worldwide, with only 14% of infants exclusively breastfed for six months. • Despite progress on immunisation, some children are still not vaccinated and suffer from diseases that could be prevented. • There are more babies being born to HIV positive mothers and a growing number of infants live in institutions. • Around 58,000 pre-schools closed in CIS countries in the 1990s. • About 10% of births in poor areas go unregistered each year. • In 1999, only 26% of households in the region consumed iodised salt (the best safeguard against iodine deficiency) – the lowest levels in the world. Today, around 48% use iodised salt, the fastest progress of any region.
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