In 2024, an estimated 4.9 million children will die before their fifth birthday, including 2.3 million newborns. Most of these deaths are preventable with cheap interventions and quality health care. The under-five mortality rate has fallen by more than half since 2000, but since 2015 the rate of decline has slowed by more than 60 percent. Neonatal deaths account for nearly half of all deaths, with complications from preterm birth (36 percent) and childbirth (21 percent) being the main causes. After the first month of life, infectious diseases such as malaria (17 percent), diarrhea and pneumonia dominate, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, where 58 percent of all deaths occur. For the first time, it was estimated that more than 100,000 children aged 1–59 months died directly from severe acute malnutrition (5 percent). Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia bear the brunt, where children in conflict areas die almost three times more often.