Health and nutrition archive
Impoving Child Nutrition: The achievable imperative for global progress (PDF)
Published: April 2013
Stunting affects 165 million children under 5 years of age around the world, and it can trap those children in a vicious cycle of poverty and undernutrition. Yet, key interventions when delivered during a critical 1,000-day window – during the mother’s pregnancy and before a child turns 2 ‒ can lead to a reduced prevalence of stunting. This report showcases new developments in nutrition programmes and analyses progress towards reducing undernutrition. It also includes case studies from countries where nutrition has been improved at scale.
Comprehensive needs assessment of newborn care in selected countries: Cross-country report (PDF)
Published: March 2013
The report provides comprehensive, equity-focussed needs assessment for country-specific newborn care programming in three selected countries in the East Asian and Pacific region: Indonesia, Lao People's Democratic Republic and the Philippines. The findings of the three country assessments have been compared and summarised in this report which highlights overlapping issues and opportunities.
Comitting to Child Survival: A Promise Renewed (PDF)
Launched: September 2012
Publisher: UNICEF
The report examines trends in child mortality estimates since 1990, and shows that major reductions have been made in under-five mortality rates in all regions and diverse countries. This has translated into a sharp drop in the estimated number of under-five deaths worldwide. Data released by UNICEF and the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation show that the number of children under the age of five dying globally fell from nearly 12 million in 1990 to an estimated 6.9 million in 2011.
Improving Nutrition Security in Asia: An EU-UNICEF Joint Action
Launched: June 2012
Publishers: European Unio & UNICEF East Asia & Pacific
More than a third of children under 5 years of age in East and South Asia are stunted: they are too short for their age because of long-term insufficient nutrient intake and frequent infections. The physical and mental damage caused by stunting is largely irreversible after two years of age. Poor foetal and young child growth negatively impacts a child throughout his life, resulting in poorer academic achievement, reduced earnings, and increased risk of disease. The European Union (EU) and UNICEF have joined forces to improve nutrition security in the region.
Countdown to 2015: Building a future for women and children
Launched: June 2012
Publisher: World Health Organization and UNICEF
Countdown to 2015 is a global movement to track, stimulate and support country progress towards achieving the health-related Millennium Development Goals, particularly goals 4 (reduce child mortality) and 5 (improve maternal health; box 2). Since 2005 Countdown has produced periodic reports and country profiles on key aspects of reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health, achieving global impact with its focus on accountability and use of available data to hold stakeholders to account for global and national action.
Pneumonia and diarrhoea: Tackling the deadliest diseases for the world’s poorest children
Launched: June 2012
Publisher: UNICEF
Pneumonia and diarrhoea are leading killers of the world’s youngest children, accounting for 29 per cent of deaths among children under age 5 worldwide – or more than 2 million lives lost each year. This toll is highly concentrated in the poorest regions and countries and among the most disadvantaged children within these societies. Nearly 90 per cent of deaths due to pneumonia and diarrhoea occur in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. This report makes a remarkable and compelling argument for tackling two of the leading killers of children under age 5.
The Mongolia Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey MICS4 2010 (Summary Report)
Published: December 2011
Publisher: National Statistics Office and UNICEF Mongolia
The Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey was conducted to assess implementation of the abovementioned Law on Statistics, to collect data for assessing the health, education, development, protection and situation of children and women to monitor the progress on achieving the goals of the implementation of the child protection related international agreements, the National Program and Millennium Development goals, and to revise the data from the previous survey (done in 2005).
Child Mortality Report 2011
Publication year: September 2011
Publishers: UNICEF, WHO, World Bank, United Nations Population Division
Child mortality is a key indicator not only of child health and nutrition but also of the implementation of child survival interventions and, more broadly, of social and economic development. This report presents the latest estimates of under-five, infant and neonatal mortality and assesses progress towards MDG 4 at the country, regional and global levels. Click to read the report.
Facts for Life
Publication year: 2010
The publication provides life-saving information to families and communities on how to prevent child and maternal deaths, diseases, injuries and violence. Now in its fourth edition, Facts for life has benefitted millions of individuals and communities since its first publication in 1989. Some 15 million copies of previous editions have been circulated worldwide in 215 languages. Click to read.
Assesment of the reaching every district strategy in Mongolia
Publication year: 2010
This report reflects a rapid assessment of the Reaching Every District (RED) strategy in Mongolia to capture the impact on health service access in the 13 subdistricts. The RED has been used in building up the capacities of district-level health care services to increase immunization coverage. Click to read the report.
Level & Trends in Child Mortality Report 2010
Publication year: 2010
Publisher: UNICEF, WHO, World Bank,
Languages: English
Since 1990 the global under-five mortality rate has fallen by a third—from 89 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 60 in 2009. All regions except Sub-Saharan Africa, Southern Asia and Oceania have seen reductions of at least 50 percent. Click to download the full report.
Health Service Access Among Poor Communities in Phnom Penh
Publication year: 2010
Publisher: UNICEF Cambodia
Languages: English
The Health Sector Strategic Plan 2008-2015 clearly stipulates that the long term vision of the Ministry of Health is “to enhance sustainable development of the health sector for better health and well-being of all Cambodian, especially of the poor, women and children. This study enables us to understand more clearly the challenges these communities have in keeping their families healthy and gaining access to health care services. Click to read the full report.
Countdown to 2015: Decade Report (2000-2015)
Countdown collects and analyses data from the 68 countries that account for at least 95% of maternal and child deaths. It produces country profiles that present coverage data for a range of key health services. It reviews progress over 2000–2010. Click to download and read.
Asia-Pacific Regional Workshop on the Reduction of Stunting Through Improvement of Complementary Feeding and Maternal Nutrition, 25-27 March 2010, Bangkok, Thailand
About 100 participants from FAO, UNICEF, WFP, WHO , Government health/nutrition departments , NGOs and Academia joined the workshop to discuss the latest evidence on maternal and child nutrition, effective interventions and existing tools which can be used to improve maternal and child nutrition, and share good practices and lessons learnt from country experiences in that area. Click to read the Executive Summary and the Full Report.
Health equity in Viet Nam: A situational analysis focused on maternal and child mortality
Publication year: 2010
Publisher: UNICEF Viet Nam
Languages: English
This situational analysis provides estimates of the degree of inequality in bothmaternal and child mortality and other high-level maternal and child health outcomes causally related to maternal and child mortality, including child morbidity, children's nutritional status and fertility.The analysis suggests that there is a moderate degree of inequality in child mortality in Viet Nam disfavoring poorer women and their children that has persisted at least since 1992/93 despite substantial reductions in overall infant mortality rates during this period. Click to read the full report.
Tracking Progress on Child and Maternal Nutrition
Publication year: 2009
Publisher: UNICEF
Languages: English
Lack of attention to child and maternal nutrition today will result in considerably higher costs tomorrow. With more than 1 billion people suffering from malnutrition and hunger, international leadership and urgent action are needed. Global commitments on food security, nutrition and sustainable agriculture are part of a wider international agenda that will help address the critical issues raised in this report.
Progress for Children: A report card on maternal mortality
This edition of Progress for Children, the seventh inthe series that monitors progress towards theMillennium Development Goals, measures the world’sperformance on maternal health, with a particularfocus on maternal mortality.
The State of Asia-Pacific's Children 2008: Child Survival
This year, UNICEF is publishing the first annualedition for the Asia-Pacific region, which encompasseshalf of the world’s population, under the title of TheState of Asia-Pacific’s Children 2008. This volume and other regional editions complement...
Papua New Guinea: Enhancing pregnancy outcome report
This report was prepared from data collected during the course of the EPO program. The data entry and cross-checking was managed by IMR and files provided to the consultant. Further cleaning of the data, such as harmonising of identification numbers and..
Sustainable Elimination of Iodine Deficiency
This report was made possiblewith the advice and contributionsof many people, bothinside and outside UNICEF. Itwas prepared by the UNICEFNutrition Section, ProgrammeDivision and the Division ofCommunications at New YorkHeadquarters.
Joint review of the maternal and child survival strategy in China. 2006
The review analyzed the factors that affect maternal and child mortality in China. This framework also assessed the impact of interventions and related institutional measures related to health services, but also of policies affecting other areas.
Strategy to improve child survival, growth and development for the most at-risk. 2005
This strategy can be used as a tool to assist countries in the East Asia and Pacific region in their programming for child survival growth and development.
Strategy to reduce maternal and child undernutrition. 2003
The strategy proposes to extend interventions to adolescent girls and pre-pregnancy women to improve their nutritional status before conception and through all three trimesters of pregnancy.
Strategy to reduce maternal deaths. 2003
This paper discusses how to lower maternal mortality ratios and maternal and child undernutrition by increasing access to emergency obstetric care facilities and by targeting the smaller but substantial number of preventable causes of maternal death.
