Bangladesh is very much ‘on track’ to achieve millennium development goal 4 on child survival, but is far away from the target of reducing maternal deaths towards goal 5 of the United Nations set for 2015, according to a report available in the city on Friday, reports agency.

The mortality of children under five years of age has come down at 69 per thousand live births in 2006 from 149 in 1990, marking a 4.8 percent average annual rate of reduction, which is slightly over the final target to achieve the mortality at 50 by 2015.

The maternal mortality ratio, however, remained 570 per 100,000 lives, indicating a very high ratio of mother deaths in Bangladesh. According to the study, one in 51 women were at lifetime risk of death up to 2005 in the country, said the report prepared by the United Nations after reviewing progress in 68 countries.

Successful immunization coupled with vitamin A supplementation has been found to be the key factors reducing mortality of children, 277,000 of whom die each year against a total annual birth of 40,13,000.

The report also suggested gearing up the existing programmes with proper nutritional support for further reduction in child mortality.

The highest number of delivery at home by unskilled or semi- skilled birth attendants has been identified as the main culprit for high maternal deaths in Bangladesh, where majority of women die of haemorrhage followed by anaemia, hypertensive disorders, obstructed labor and abortion.

More than 21,000 mothers died in 2005, said the report. The 2008 report titled “Tracking Progress in Maternal, Newborn and Child Survival” was released in South Africa on Thursday.

It said few of the 68 developing countries that account for 97 per cent of maternal and child deaths worldwide are making remarkable progress to provide critical healthcare needed to save lives of infants, children and women.

Parliamentarians attending the 118th Assembly of the Inter- Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Cape Town joined the global health experts and policymakers to discuss the role they can play in accelerating the action to achieve MDGs 4 and 5.

Speaker of Jatiya Sangsad Barrister Jamir Uddin Sircar is also attending the assembly. Over 10 million women and children still die each year from causes that are largely preventable and treatable.

The majority of maternal and child deaths occur in Africa and South Asia, with Sub-Saharan Africa’s burden increasing. The report, using the existing country data, highlighted the rapid progress that many of the 68 countries are making in providing vaccinations, vitamin A supplementation and insecticide-treated mosquito nets to prevent major killers such as measles and malaria. Nonetheless, treatment for potentially fatal illnesses and other vital health services still fail to reach the majority of women and children, according to the findings.

These services are dependent on strong health systems that can provide 24-hour care within a community, at health clinics, and through a functioning referral system when more serious intervention is necessary. Access to these services is most critical at the time of birth and during the first two weeks of life, which are the riskiest for mother and infant. The report also identified a number of missed opportunities that need urgent attention.

These include reduction in unmet need for modern contraceptives now being used only by one-third of women, increase of skilled care at birth, access to quality clinical care for sick children and improving nutritional status through poverty reduction.