The rate of death among children below of 5 years of age in the population
Unit Description
death per 10,000 children under 5 years/day
Numerator
Total number of death in children under 5 years during time period
Denominator
Total number of children under 5 years multiple by number of days in time period over 10,000 persons
Disaggregation
Geographical area
Indicator used for response monitoring ?
No
Types
Baseline
Threshold / Standard
See Sphere (http://www.spherehandbook.org/en/essential-health-services-standard-1-prioritising-health-services/) for emergency thresholds for different regions. When the baseline rate is unknown or of doubtful validity, agencies should aim to maintain the U5MR at least below 2.0/10,000/day
General guidance
Under-five mortality rate as defined here is strictly speaking not a rate (i.e. the number of deaths divided by the number of population at risk during a certain period of time) but a probability of death derived from a life table and expressed as rate per 1000 live births
Guidance on phases
preparatory; Phases I, II III and IV
Phase applicability
Pre-crisis/Baseline
Phase 1
Phase 2
Phase 3
Phase 4
Data Sources
Representative survey and or from health facility / community records
Comments
These data should be taken from Health Cluster or specific mortality surveys, representative surveys, A proxy can be calculated through health facilities and community records in early phases of emergency. Under-five mortality rate measures child survival. It also reflects the social, economic and environmental conditions in which children (and others in society) live, including their health care. Because data on the incidences and prevalence of diseases (morbidity data) frequently are unavailable, mortality rates are often used to identify vulnerable populations. Under-five mortality rate is an MDG indicator