Child Health / School HealthPublic Health

The essential role of epidemiology is to improve the health of populations. This textbook provides an introduction to the basic principles and methods of epidemiology. It is intended for a wide audience, and to be used as training material for professionals in the health and environment fields.

The world has made substantial progress in reducing child mortality in the past several decades. The total number of under-five deaths dropped to 5.6 (5.4, 6.0)1 million in 2016 from 12.6 (12.4, 12.8) million in 1990 – 15,000 every day compared with 35,000 in 1990. Globally, the under-five mortality rate dropped to 41 (39, 44) deaths per 1,000 live births in 2016 from 93 (92, 95) in 1990 – a 56 (53, 58) per cent decline.