Inequalities in access to health resources, nutrition, and safety education contribute to high child mortality rates globally. Pneumonia is the leading cause of child death worldwide, and malnourished children without access to antibiotics are most at risk. Reducing child mortality requires improving access to modern medicine and healthcare in impoverished communities, as well as access to nutritional food to support children's immune systems. Since leading causes of death vary by country, local efforts tailored to a area's needs - such as reducing motor vehicle deaths and drownings for young children - can be most impactful.

1. Reducing Child Mortality
UN Millennial Development Goals
Juan Alonso
Shared Goals Within Communities
TCOM 220: Social Media

2. Developmental Goals
Inequalities of income, access to health resources, nutritional food, and safety education are all contributing factors
to the child mortality rate. Improving these aspects in all countries will have a direct effect on the global mortality
rate for children after birth. Pneumonia is the leading cause of child deaths worldwide, although this infection is
treatable with antibiotics, malnourished children who do not have access to medicine are at the higher risk.
● Reduce the under-5 mortality rate by two-thirds between
1990-2015
● Reduce the child mortality rate to at least as 2.5% in all
countries by 2030
● Provide access to modern medicine and healthcare in
impoverished communities
● Provide access to nutritional food enabling children immune
systems to fight off infections and overcome diseases.

3. Why does this resonate for me?
Being a descendant of immigrants has given me the opportunity
to travel abroad and compare my childhood experiences and
quality of life to other children in foregin countries. This has
given me the chance to think about how my health would be
different if I grew up outside of the United States. I have seen a
significant difference in emphasis on child safety, security,
environmental conditions, and available access to quality food
and healthcare. An example of these differences can be seen in
automobile accidents where the U.S. is fully aware and has
enforced laws to protect children from automobile fatalities.
Meanwhile the countries I have visited often have no laws
enforcing booster seats for children of even seatbelts on
passengers.

4. Local Change
Since leading causes of child mortality vary greatly by country, an effort to achieve
local change would yield the most impact if geared towards reducing motor-vehicle
deaths, and drowning for children under 5 years of age.
Raising awareness of the leading cause goes a long ways as the majority of parents are
quick to adopt practices that increase the safety of their children. Information enabling
behaviors that result from raising awareness include preventative measures such as
locking doors, investing in pool covers, investing in quality booster seats.
Impacting the issue globally would require providing further incentives and availability
of executing these preventative behaviors through law enforcement and cultural
awareness change. Effectively spreading the reasons and shocking statistics of how
many children die from preventable causes each year carries influence.

5. Personal Contributions
We can all have significant impacts on the lives of children both close to us and far away,
below are some things you can do as an individual to reduce child mortality.
● Identify and communicate concerns for hazardous conditions that put children you see at
risk, this can include an open pool, inadequate use of a booster seat, unsupervised children,
and distracted driving.
● Reach out to officials and child services when legitimate hazards are not addressed or
considered. Interactions with these services often result in proper preventative measures.
● Share and spread awareness on your social media for organizations that are dedicated to
providing impoverished children with nutrition and access to modern medicine.
● Volunteer and donate to organizations distributing food and medicine abroad.

6. Utilizing Social Media
● The are multiple inviting social
media groups that have been
created with similar goals in mind
such as reducing child hunger.
● Social media can be used to spread
awareness and attract volunteers
for dedicated organizations.
● Social media tools such as tags
displayed on the right can be used to
gain traction and following
effectively raising awareness online.
● Although not pleasant, we have the
ability to repost tragic stories while
also presenting the preventable
measures that would have changed
a fatal outcome.

7. Resources
United Nations Millennium Development Goals
The Major Causes of Death in Children and Adolescents in the United States | NEJM
The Top 10 Causes of Death for Children Around the World (globalcitizen.org)
98 Child Passenger Safety ideas | child passenger safety, carseat safety, car seats (pinterest.com)
Child Mortality - UNICEF DATA