Concern over increase in child mortality rate

South Africa faces a massive task in reaching the Millennium Development Goals for child survival in 2015, as trends show that the mortality rates of infants and children under five are on the increase. In the mid-90’s, some 40 deaths were recorded for every thousand live births. Now the figure hovers closer to the 60 mark for infants and 90 out of a thousand for under fives. News24 quotes Dr Anupam Garrib of the Nelson Mandela School of Medicine in KwaZulu-Natal as saying for a country that has the resources that South Africa does, the infant and child mortality rates are very high.