India can be in cheers over the latest report of the United Nations showing high decline in child mortality between 1990 and 2019.

 More, infant mortality rate (deaths per 1,000 live births) in India has declined from 89 in 1990 to 28 in 2019 with the country registering 679000 infant deaths last year, a significant decline from 2.4 million infant deaths in 1990. 

The country also witnessed a decrease in neonatal mortality rate between 1990 and 2019 from 57 to 22 - 1.5 million neonatal deaths in 1990 to 522,000 deaths in 2019,said a new UN report.The report  warned that COVID-19 pandemic threatens to undo decades of progress in eliminating preventable child deaths globally.

However, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in major disruptions to health services that threaten to undo decades of hard-won progress toward eliminating preventable child deaths.

As per the new mortality estimates released by UNICEF, the World Health Organization (WHO), the Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs and the World Bank Group, the under-five mortality rate (deaths per 1,000 live births) in India declined to 34 in 2019 from 126 in 1990. 

Also,the country registered a 4.5 per cent annual rate of reduction in under-five mortality between 1990-2019. The number of under-five deaths in India dropped from 3.4 million in 1990 to 824,000 in 2019.