it is not only a strong indicator of the health and wellbeing of children but also of the entire population the icpd programme of action set a target in to reduce the underfive mortality rate below deaths per live births by while considerable progress has been made in reducing child mortality since some recent data from the world health organization have suggested that of the eight mdgs goal reducing child mortality and goal improving maternal health are the two furthest from being achieved by world health organization b united nations b