Nearly one-third fewer young children died in 2007 than in 1990, the World Health Organization said Thursday.
The Geneva-based body said that about 9 million children under 5 years old died in 2007, compared with 12.5 million in 1990, the Associated Press reported.
The WHO said the 27 percent decline shows progress is being made toward the goal of a two-thirds reduction in deaths by 2015, which is one of the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals.
The data on young children's deaths were included in more than 100 health trends published this week by the WHO, the AP reported.