The Under-five child mortality rate in Latin America and the Caribbean has been reduced by 69 per cent during the years 1990 to 2015, surpassing the two-thirds reduction target set as one of the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG).
According to the report on the MDGs, issued on Monday by the UN Deprtment of Public Information, the under-five child mortality rate moved from 54 per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 17 per 1,000 live births in 2015.
The report further reveals that there were 190 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 2013 the Caribbean, significantly higher than the 77 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births Latin America.
Progress has been slow in the area of adolescent child bearing in the region, the MDG report reveals, with the birth rate among adolescent girls the second highest of all developing regions.
HIV/AIDS
On a very positive note, new HIV infections dropped by 56 per cent from 2000 to 2015 in the Caribbean. On the other hand, Latin America's rate of HIV infections has declined more slowly over the same period.
Forty-four per cent of people living with HIV/AIDS in the whole region received antiretroviral treatment therapy, "the highest among all developing regions," the report reveals.
The region met the MDG drinking water target five years ahead of schedule. The proportion of the population using an improved water source was 95 per cent in 2015, up from 85 per cent in 1990.
According to the report, Latin America and the Caribbean is also very close to reaching the target of halving the proportion of pouplation without basic sanitation.
The proportion of the population using an improved sanitation facility increased from 67 per cent to 83 per cent over the 25 years, 1990 to 2015.
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