African countries have made bold pledges to address the continent’s maternal and child mortality crisis, as a challenging health landscape, shrinking resources, climate change and conflict threaten to reverse decades of progress in child survival.

Nearly five million children die from preventable causes before the age of five every year. Close to 60 per cent of these deaths occur in Africa, many of them caused by infectious diseases such as pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria and meningitis. This is despite the existence of proven interventions such as vaccines, which have saved 154 million lives over the past 50 years

As the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) deadline looms, African governments are now doubling down on their commitments to end preventable deaths of children under five as envisioned by the global goals over the next five years.