Zimbabwe child mortality rate rockets in past 20 years
The infant mortality rate in Zimbabwe is up 20% over the past two decades as children under five years of age die from illnesses related to HIV/Aids, and from pneumonia and diarrhoea, according to a joint government and UN survey. It’s not surprising really, as the country has been in economic free-fall since 2000, when Mugabe stole back land he says was stolen by white settlers. An earlier report from the UN said that the under-five mortality rate rose 50% between 1990 and 2005 to one death in every eight births, which suggests an improvement in the past four years. But the latest report shows between 2005 and 2009, 94 children out of every 1,000 newborns died before reaching the age of five, up from 82 deaths in 2005. Read more: Reuters, UNICEF
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