The National Bureau of Statistics says the number of children who die before their fifth birthday out of 1,000 live births, declined from 201 in 2004 to 157 in 2008 and further to 94 in 2012.
This was contained in the 2012 Millennium Development Goals Performance Tracking Survey Report released on Wednesday in Abuja by the NBS.
The report said: “Some of the possible driving influences for the decline include increased use of insecticide-treated bed nets for protection against malaria infection, and access to vaccinations against polio, diphtheria, pertussis (Whooping Cough), tetanus and measles.
“These insecticide-treated bed nets and vaccinations have made important contributions to the improvements in child survival.”
According to the report, under-five mortality is relatively higher in the rural area and in the poorest household.
It said: “Under-five mortality rate in the rural area was about 105 deaths (per 1,000 live births) as against 61 in the urban area.
“By implication the urban area has achieved and surpassed the MDG target of 63.7(per 1,000 live births), while the rural area is lagging behind by about 46.”
The report stated that under-five mortality rate in the poorest household stood at about 114, about 44.1 per cent higher than the 2015 benchmark.
It said that in the richest household, the rate stood at about 58 deaths, which represents 9.8 per cent improvement over the MDG benchmark.
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