The United Nations team that looks at how many kids under five years old pass away has shared some good news. Since the year 2000, fewer young kids are dying around the world. The number has gone down by more than half!

In some places like Cambodia, Malawi, Mongolia, and Rwanda, they’ve done an amazing job. They’ve made it so a lot fewer kids under five are dying – over 75% less than before.

A big shout-out goes to the hardworking health helpers like midwives and community health folks. Catherine Russell, a big boss at UNICEF, says thanks to lots of people working hard for many years, we know how to stop these sad deaths. We have the smart plans and tools we need.

The UN team that counts these things started in 2004. They’re made up of groups like UNICEF, the World Health Organization, the World Bank, and another UN group that looks at population stuff. They keep track of how we’re doing in keeping kids alive.

But, even with this good news, there’s still a long way to go. Many kids are still dying from things we can stop, like being born too early, pneumonia, diarrhea, and malaria. Most of these happen in places like sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia, where it’s harder to get good health care.

Things like money troubles, wars, the weather getting weird, and leftover problems from the COVID-19 sickness are making it tough to keep making things better. Some kids are dying very young, which is very sad for their families. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus from the World Health Organization says it’s not fair that some kids don’t get to grow up just because of where they were born. We need to make sure all moms and kids can get to a doctor or health service, even in emergencies or far-away places.

To keep saving kids’ lives, we need to make sure health workers have good training, jobs, and work conditions. They’re super important in helping everyone get the care they need. Juan Pablo Uribe from the World Bank says we need to work faster to help all kids have the same chance to grow up healthy, no matter where they live.