***Child mortality 'at record low'*** (BBC)

Fewer children under five worldwide are dying than ever before, according to the United Nations Children's Fund, due to increased immunisation.

Greater steps have also been taken to prevent the spread of malaria, a Unicef report says.

But nearly 10 million children under five died in 2006, the report adds.

The Millennium Development Goal of reducing child mortality by two-thirds by 2015 could be met by Latin America and the Caribbean, Unicef says.

This slowing in the rate of child deaths, from 13 million in 1990, to 9.7 million in 2006, is due to a combination of factors, including better immunisation, more mothers breastfeeding and mosquito nets being used to prevent the spread of malaria.
***
more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6992401.stm

Good news! The rest of civilization is doing just fine for itself without the AWOL USA!

where military action is killing between 1/4 and 1/3 of the children before their fifth birthday.

Go USA. :sarcasm: