RIO DE JANEIRO, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- Brazil has succeeded in substantially cutting its child mortality rate by 77 percent in two decades, managing to reach, three years ahead of schedule, the UN Millennium Development Goal related to child mortality: a two- thirds rate reduction by 2015, according to a UN report released Friday.
The report by the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) showed the country's child mortality rate fell from 62 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 14 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2012.
The rate takes into account deaths among children aged from infancy to five years of age and is considered a key component of the Human Development Index, which measures a population's quality of life based on life expectancy and education, among other factors.
The UNICEF said several factors contributed to reducing child mortality in Brazil, including advances in the country's public healthcare system, improvements in medical care for expectant mothers and newborns, campaigns to promote breast-feeding, better sanitary conditions, and an increase in immunization rates.
Brazil, showing the most improvement among Latin American countries, was mentioned by the UNICEF as an example to follow when it comes to reducing child mortality.
Brazil's progress in this area is much greater than the global average, said the UNICEF, which reports the child mortality rate worldwide has dropped 47 percent since 1990.
The UNICEF said it was unlikely the world will meet the UN Millennium Development Goal related to child mortality by 2015, but perhaps by 2028.
The organization called on countries to act to reduce preventable deaths.
"The cost of inaction is alarmingly high: as many as 35 million more children could die, mostly from preventable causes, between 2015 and 2028, if the global community does not take immediate action to accelerate progress," the UNICEF said.
Preventing diarrhea, malaria and pneumonia is essential to cutting child mortality rates, as those diseases are responsible for millions of child deaths every year, as many as 6.6 million deaths in 2012 alone, according to the UNICEF.
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