Child Mortality Is Likely on the Rise

For the first time in 25 years, child mortality rates for preventable diseases are projected to increase, after having declined for 25 years.

The new estimate comes from models created by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington and was released for the first time in the Goalkeepers report from the Gates Foundation. It shows that an additional 200,000 children under age five may die this year of a disease that modern medicine can prevent, either with vaccines or other treatments. The deaths can be traced to a number of economic and political factors, the most important of which are significant cuts to spending in global health from the world’s largest donors, including the U.S., according to the report.

“It’s a tragedy that the world is richer, an