Deaths for children under 5 have gone up for the first time this century

After decades of progress, more children under the age of 5 are at risk of death than in previous years. Many of these deaths are preventable, given proper funding and resources. But international cuts to health and development aid have endangered millions of lives.

A rising toll

Society made significant progress on child mortality throughout the 21st century. Between 2000 and 2020, the “number of children who die before they hit their 5th birthday dropped by half” from “nearly 10 million deaths a year to under 5 million deaths a year,” said NPR. However, approximately 4.8 million children are expected to die before they turn five by the end of 2025, according to a report by the Gates Foundation. This is an increase of about 200,000 from the 4.6 million deaths in 2024. “By far, the largest single cause of death is the cuts in international aid,” Mark Suzman, the CEO of the Gates Foundation, said to The Independent. “When you pull back at short notice, that has consequences, and sadly, those consequences are measured in human lives.”

Just between this year and last year, global health assistance dropped from $49 billion to about $36 billion, which is more than a 25% decline. The U.S. has led the charge on funding cuts, as it has historically been the largest contributor of global aid in the world. But the U.S. was not the only country to reduce aid. Other high-income countries, including the U.K., France and Germany, “have also been making significant cuts as priorities have shifted,” said NPR. “While some countries have stepped up,” it unfortunately “does not make up for the cuts.” If funding cuts continue, between 12 million and 16 million more children could die by 2045, per the report.

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Less money, more problems

Many of these deaths are the result of preventable or treatable conditions, including malaria, HIV/AIDS, pneumonia and diarrhea. In order to prevent further deaths, it is necessary to “double down on the most effective interventions,” including building “strong primary health systems and lifesaving vaccines,” Bill Gates, the chair of the Gates Foundation, said in the study. It is also important to “prioritize innovations that stretch each and every dollar” as well as “continue to support the development of next-generation innovations.” This includes vaccines with fewer dosage requirements and better use of data for disease intervention.

The countries most reliant on foreign aid and development assistance are “grappling with increasingly fragile health care systems and mounting debt as they try to tackle the leading causes of child mortality,” said CNN. President Donald Trump’s cuts to USAID have directly contributed to the deaths, as the U.S.’s funding for global health “remains two-thirds below where it stood in 2024,” said The Independent. If the world returned global health funding to its 2024 levels, though, “health innovations in the pipeline — like new vaccines, malaria control interventions, new maternal and neonatal care strategies — would save 12 million additional children by 2045,” said NPR.

“Over the last 25 years we’ve made incredible progress in global health, specifically for children,” Margaret Miller, a senior program officer at the Gates Foundation, said to The Washington Post. “It’s really tragic that it’s now at risk.”