New estimates of child deaths for 2008 show that pneumonia, diarrhoea and malaria remain the highest causes worldwide, together accounting for 41% of deaths (figure 3). More than 40% of child deaths occur in the neonatal period, and progress in reducing deaths has been slower for newborn deaths than for...

A maternal death is defined as the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, regardless of the site or duration of pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management. New estimates show that the leading causes of...