Deaths among children younger than five have dropped drastically in Malta over the past 40 years, down from 31.48 per 1,000 live births in 1970 to 5.23 this year, a study just published shows.
The study, published early this morning in The Lancet, found that deaths among newborns up to one month have also seen a steep decline, decreasing from 19.84 per 1,000 births in 1970 to 3.18 this year.
The researchers, from the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, also noted few deaths among infants aged between one and 12 months and children between one and four years old.
"Children are doing better today than at any time in recent history, especially in the first month of life" Julie Knoll Rajaratnam, the study's lead author, said.
Despite the obvious improvements in childhood mortality, Malta has retained the same ranking as it did in 1970, placing 31st among 187 countries. It dropped five places since 1990, when it placed 26th in the league of deaths among five-year-olds.
The island has also dropped in ranking when it comes to neonatal mortality, from 26th place in 1990 to 33rd this year, although it improved from 35th place in 1970.
The same trend was also seen among babies aged between one and 12 months and in the case of children aged between one and four years.
Malta placed 30th in the world for post-neonatal mortality in 2010, down from 24th place in 1990 but an improvement on the 32nd place in 1970.
When it came to children aged between one and four years, Malta ranked in the 33rd place this year, down from 27th place in 1990. The island had ranked 35 in 1970.
Although the researchers did not delve into the reasons behind Malta's drop in rankings over the past 20 years, this is likely due to the country's ban on abortion, experts believe. Unlike other countries, where many foetuses with fatal disabilities are aborted, this is not allowed by law in Malta. Many of the babies who die soon after birth are born with incurable congenital disorders.
The United Arab Emirates have the lowest mortality among children aged between one and four years old and babies aged between one and 12 months. Singapore has the lowest mortality among under five-year-olds and newborns up to a month.
The researchers found that childhood mortality was dropping in every region of the world, going down by 35 per cent since 1990. Only Swaziland, Lesotho, Equatorial Guinea and Antigua and Barbuda have seen increases over the past 20 years.
They said 31 developing countries, including Brazil, Mexico, Malaysia and Egypt, were on track to meet the fourth Millennium Development Goal to reduce child mortality by two-thirds by 2015.