A child being vaccinated in a hospital in Congo
The
World Health Organization's annual statistics show progress is being
made around the world in cutting child mortality - but it will miss its
target of a two-thirds reduction by 2015.
The number of under-fives dying fell from 12 million in 1990 to less than seven million in 2011, the data shows. But that will not be enough to reach the 2015 Millennium Development Goal.
The WHO says the health gap between countries is narrowing, but there are continuing inequalities in health care.
Many people in low- and middle-income countries have insufficient access to medicines in the public sector, meaning they rely on the private sector, where prices can be up to 16 times higher, says the WHO.
In these countries, an average of only 57% - and in some cases as little as 3% - of selected generic non-branded medicines are available in the public sector, according to data compiled by the global health body.
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