War zones excepted, the world's children getting stronger

Despite some stark exceptions, Children and adolescents worldwide are more likely to reach their 20th birthday than ever before.

Yemeni children suffering from measles share a bed as they receive medical treatment at a hospital amid a rapidly spreading measles outbreak, in Sanaa, Yemen Source: AAP

The finding has been published in the Global Burden of Disease report, which analysed the mortality and morbidity of children from birth for the years from 1990 to 2017.

Children are often classed as the most vulnerable in society and the wars in Yemen and Syria are the most obvious examples to be found in the world in recent times.

Charity Save the Children estimated in late 2018 that 85-thousand Yemeni children under the age of five had died from acute malnutrition alone in that war.

But a new report has found that child and adolescent deaths in general terms around the world have reduced by more than 52 per cent since 1990.