The proportion of children who reach their fifth birthday is one of the most fundamental indicators of a country's concern for its people. Child survival statistics are a poignant indicator of the priority given to the services that help a child to flourish: adequate supplies of nutritious food, the availability of high-quality health care and easy access to safe water and sanitation facilities, as well as the family's overall economic condition and the health and status of women in the community. 
 
Re-slicing the cause-of-death pie
Determining the cause of death for children under 5 has always been a more difficult task than estimating the number of child deaths. Better estimates of the cause of child death have resulted from a new global study by WHO, the World Bank and Harvard University, reflected in the pie chart. 

The chart revises earlier estimates of the proportion of deaths attributable to each cause. It also provides information on two categories—injuries and non-communicable diseases—not previously included in cause-of-death estimates. 

Although the new pie chart attributes a smaller percentage of deaths to diarrhoea and acute respiratory infections, it confirms them as the leading cause of child death. Malnutrition alone accounts for just 3% of under-5 deaths, but it plays a contributing role in more than half of all child deaths in developing countries. 

*Acute respiratory infections. 
**Non-communicable diseases. 
Source: Adapted from Global Burden of Disease, WHO, World Bank and Harvard University, 1996.  
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