8,219
deaths a day worldwide
3 million
deaths a year, WHO estimates
Root causes Poverty, geography, politics, civil
turmoil, and limited funds hinder care.
Who’s affected Pre-adolescent children, although
adults can also contract the same illnesses.
Where they are The majority live in developing
countries where vaccination coverage is insufficient
because of poverty, geography, and political or civil
turmoil.
What can be done
26¢
Measles vaccine
Per dose
Malawi boosted immunization
coverage to 90 percent in 2002
from 50 percent in 1980. For the first time
ever, no measles deaths were reported in 1999.
$1.20
Tetanus vaccine
3 doses for mother
Bangladesh increased coverage
for mothers to 86 percent in 1998
from 5 percent in 1986; during the same period,
the death rate fell to 4 per 1,000 live births from 41.
33¢
Oral rehydration salts
Per dose
In Mexico, since the introduction of oral rehydration
therapy in 1984, mortality rates for diarrheal diseases
fell by 60 percent in less than a decade.
NOTE: The vaccines are DTP3, the third dose of
diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (whooping cough)
vaccine; MCV, the measles-containing vaccine;
and POL3, the third dose of polio vaccine.
Access to safe water, 2000 data.
Health care spending, 2000 data. Includes
government and private health expenditure.
Graphic: Globe Staff
