Nigeria at Risk: Thousands of Children Die Before Age Five from Preventable Causes
A new UN report paints a sobering picture of global child survival, highlighting that 4.9 million children died before their fifth birthday in 2024, including 2.3 million newborns. Most of these deaths are preventable through low-cost, evidence-based interventions, emphasizing the urgent need to safeguard children’s right to life, health, and development. While under-five mortality has declined by more than half since 2000, progress has slowed by over 60 percent since 2015, placing millions of children at heightened risk.
The report underscores stark inequities in child protection. Nearly three out of five under-five deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa, where conflict, poverty, and weak health systems limit access to essential care. Fragile and crisis-affected countries bear the heaviest burden, with children born in these settings nearly three times more likely to die before age five.
Malnutrition, preterm birth complications, infections such as malaria, diarrhoea, and pneumonia, as well as poor neonatal care, remain leading causes of death, reflecting systemic failures in safeguarding children’s health and well-being.
These figures highlight the vulnerability of children to preventable harm when health, nutrition, and social systems fail. The indirect effects of malnutrition, weak immunities, and lack of skilled care amplify risks, placing children in a cycle of vulnerability and deprivation. Adolescents are also at risk, with self-harm and road injuries emerging as leading causes of death in older children, pointing to the need for protective, safe environments.
Experts urge urgent action: governments, donors, and communities must prioritize child survival, strengthen primary health care, ensure access to skilled care at birth, and protect nutrition and vaccination programmes, particularly in high-risk regions.
Safeguarding children requires sustained investment, political commitment, and accountability to prevent unnecessary deaths and uphold every child’s right to health, safety, and development. These interventions are not only moral imperatives but strategic investments in the future of societies worldwide.
