According to recent figures, some 58.15 children per 1,000 die before the age of five. The amount of children who die before reaching that age fell to less than seven million in 2011, but around 19,000 boys and girls around the world are still dying every day. In 1990, there were 12 million deaths in under fives.

A child born in Chad, which has the world’s highest under-five mortality rate (209) is about 70 times more likely to die by age five than one born in Sweden (with a rate of three). Malta’s rate is about six per 1,000 children.

According to the World Health Organisation, the main causes of death are pneumonia, diarrhoea, malaria, measles and HIV. Malnutrition is estimated to contribute to more than one-third of all child deaths. One child dies every five seconds as a result of hunger; 700 every hour; 16 000 each day; six million each year; and 60% of all child deaths.

Latin America and South East Asia have registered improvements, but Africa continues to see more and more deaths as hunger, disease and war take their toll on children.

In the report, Unicef’s Executive Director Anthony Lake said new impetus to the global momentum to reduce under-five deaths must be given, adding that lives can be saved with vaccines, adequate nutrition and basic medical and maternal care.

“The world has the technology and know-how to do so,” Lake said. “The challenge is to make these available to every child.”

Unicef said the rate of decline in under-five deaths has drastically accelerated in the last decade, from 1.8% per year during the 1990s to 3.2% per year between 2000 and 2011. The global number of under-five deaths has fallen from around 12 million in 1990 to an estimated 6.9 million in 2011, but there is still much to be done.

70% of total deaths occur in the developing world. Two-thirds of deaths are preventable. The WHO says malnutrition and the lack of safe water and sanitation contribute to half of all these children’s deaths. Research shows that measures such as vaccines, antib-iotics, supplements, insecticide-treated bed nets, improved family care and breastfeeding practices, and education for mothers about how they can make simple changes to living conditions would help reduce the amount of deaths.

But what can we, mere mortals do? The obvious answer is to donate money, however, one of the main issues with this is that the money donated often makes its way into the pockets of dictators and bent politicians. Some organisations do make sure that charity donations make their way into the lives of children through real and tangible projects, but throwing money at the problem alone will just not work.

Another option is to go for fair trade products. It might mean spending a little extra, but it could make the difference of a life – the child of a subsistence farmer. Of course, there is always the option of going to help directly, but these are all small individual measures. The world knows of the injustice, and we, from the West are, whether we like it or not, the biggest contributor to this gross injustice.