Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report: Causes of Death Among Stillbirths and Children Aged <5 Years in Africa and South Asia — Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance, Seven Countries, 2016–2024.

Causes of Death Among Stillbirths and Children Aged <5 Years in Africa and South Asia — Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance, Seven Countries, 2016–2024. Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia have the highest rates of stillbirths and rates of death among children aged <5 years, with many countries in those regions unlikely to meet the 2030 goal of ending preventable deaths among newborns and children aged <5 years. Conventional mortality surveillance (determining cause of death through interviews with family members or caregivers [i.e., verbal autopsy] and vital registration) in areas with high mortality often lacks laboratory confirmation of causes and incompletely identifies maternal contributors and comorbid conditions, providing information that is insufficiently specific to guide prevention efforts.