Almost all of these child deaths occur in developing countries, and nearly 40 per cent of them occur within a child's first 28 days, which is called the “neonatal” period. In most cases, the diseases that are killing children, namely pneumonia, diarrhoea, malaria, malnutrition and neonatal conditions, are preventable, treatable and the necessary interventions are cost-effective. 

We have made massive progress in reducing child deaths, which have fallen by 30% since 1990. However progress is not fast enough to reach the Millennium Development Goal of reducing child mortality by two thirds between 1990 and 2015. This is important, apart from the moral argument, because child deaths are a good indicator of wider development.

Under-five health in general has been neglected over the past decade and certain issues, in particular sanitation and hygiene, have fallen between the gaps of aid architecture. We need to make sure that these 'forgotten issues' in child health are prioritised.

Additionally, new vaccines that dramatically decrease the chance of a child under the age of 5 dying from pneumonia or diarrhoea - the biggest killers of children - have recently been released. This offers an incredibly exciting opportunity to make more progress, faster, if we seize the opportunity and fund the roll-out of the vaccines.