MADRID, Oct. 8 (Xinhuanet) -- Latin America has seen a decline in child mortality rate, but the situation in Iraq, countries of the former Soviet Union and those in sub-Saharan Africa has worsened over the past 10 years, said the UN children's agency UNICEF on Friday.

    The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) pointed out in its Progress for Children report that Latin America is a region with the most important progress in reducing the child mortality on average.

    Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia have reductions beyond the Millenniumgoal of 4.4 percent. But poverty and discrimination prevent many Latin American children from gaining access to basic services, UNICEF warned.

    Child mortality refers to the number of children who die beforethe age of five and is measured per 1,000 live births.

    Meanwhile, the agency said the mortality rate reaches 20 percent in some countries.

    Angola, Nigeria, Uganda and Benin in sub-Saharan Africa have over 250 deaths in every 1,000 children. The highest level is 284 of Sierra Leone. The Spanish rate stands at six percent.

    Botswana, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Kenya, Cameroon, South Africa, Rwanda, Zambia and Tanzania have also witnessed rises in the rate over the past 10 years. No changes have occurred in the Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, Liberia, Mauritania, Somalia and Angola.

    The child mortality rate in Iraq rocketed from 50 to 125 per 1,000 over the past 10 years, due to war and economic embargo imposed by the United Nations.

    Former Soviet republics, like Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Latvia and Turkmenistan, have gone backward, due to the collapse of the Soviet Union, which provided a social security network.

    Most of the fatalities are related to pregnancy and parturition.About 32 percent are blamed for diarrhea and respiratory infections. HIV/AIDS remains a "chief underlying cause" affecting the child mortality, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.

    UNICEF considers it necessary to further reduce the child mortality rate from 7.5 percent to 4.4 percent a year to reach theUN Millennium Development Goal of cutting child deaths by two-thirds by 2015. Enditem