KIEV, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- Ukraine has made substantial progress in reducing its child mortality rate in the past two decades thanks to better healthcare services, a children's rights official said here Tuesday.
"Ukraine managed to reach the goal set in the UN Millennium Development program to reduce child mortality rate by two-thirds since 1990," Yuriy Pavlenko, presidential commissioner for children's rights told reporters during a news briefing.
From 2010 through 2012, the mortality rate of children under 5 years in the Eastern European country has been slashed by 27 percent, Pavlenko said.
He added that the nationwide perinatal care program, which gave infants access to affordable and high-quality medical care, contributed to the reduction of deaths.
Ukraine is targeting to reduce the national child mortality rate to 6.5 deaths per thousand live births in 2014 from 8.5 deaths in 2012.
|
