Child deaths have been cut in half since the 1990s and maternal deaths have dropped by almost a quarter.
In 2000 the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were put into play by the United Nations in hopes of dramatically lowering child and maternal deaths by 2015, an Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation news release reported.
The decline of these death rates accelerated after the goals were set. If the numbers continue to drop child death rates will fall from over six million in 2013 to less than four million in 2030.
The research determined the world's Global Burden of Disease (GBD) dropped by 48 percent between 1990 and 2013. Despite the improvement, 6.3 million children died before they turned five in 2013; 293,000 women died from childbirth-related causes.
Fort-five countries are on their way to meeting the effort's goals of reducing child deaths by two-thirds the 1990 levels by 2015 but only 16 poor countries are on track for reaching the maternal death goal.
Maternal education and income growth are believed to have a significant effect on the child death rate. Technological advances and vaccines are also believed to make a difference.
"The fact that we are seeing faster declines in child and maternal deaths in so many countries worldwide shows that international consensus around a framework like the MDGs focuses action and makes a difference, "Doctor Christopher Murray, Director of IHME and a co-founder of GBD, said in the news release. "As the world looks to 2015 and sets the post-MDG agenda, our findings provide a close look at what is working and point to where greater attention is needed to continue improving in maternal and child survival."
The leading cause of worldwide maternal death is medical complications during birth or during the period directly after; in babies the first month of life is statistically the most dangerous time.
"While a majority of the world's countries will not achieve MDG 4, tremendous progress has been made," study author Haidong Wang, Assistant Professor at IHME, said in the news release. "Policy changes, increased development assistance for health, expanded HIV treatment programs, and greater access to child services are all important benefits of the push to achieve these goals. In the post-MDG era, countries will be well-served to continue these efforts."
