Child Health: A fair start in life >> Benefits of universal health coverage FIGURE 1.8 In 63 countries, equity in intervention coverage could reduce under-five mortality rates by almost 30 per cent impact on the under-five mortality rate of increasing national coverage to the level of the top wealth quintile Under-five mortality rate 140 No change with scaled-up interventions (deaths per 1,000 live births) 120 20% reduction 100 40% 80 reduction 60 40 20 0 0 25 40 60 80 100 120 140 Baseline in under-five mortality rate (deaths per 1,000 live births) Note: health services in the scaled-up model included interventions such as skilled birth attendance, vitamin a supplementation and vaccinations. The 63 countries represent 88 per cent of global under-five deaths. The liST analyses were carried out by adrienne Clermont, Yvonne Tam and neff Walker at the institute for international Programs, Johns hopkins Bloomberg School of Public health. Source: lives Saved Tool (liST) analysis by Johns hopkins University, 2015. Strategies to deliver universal, quality health care by 2030 have to embrace two closely-related goals: expanding coverage while narrowing equity gaps. here again, coverage rates for the poorest 20 per cent of the population must increase much faster than rates for the wealthiest 20 per cent in order to reach universal coverage. in 63 high-mortality countries, scaling up national coverage of health interventions to the level of the wealthiest 20 per cent could prevent one in four under-five deaths and decrease average under-five mortality rates in countries by almost 30 per cent (see Figure 1.8). another strategy – set out by the World health organization (Who) and UniCef in the integrated Global action Plan for Pneumonia and diarrhoea – identifies the measures needed to eliminate avoidable deaths from pneumonia and diarrhoea by 2025. Simply scaling up existing interventions would cut deaths by two thirds 100 at a cost of US$6.7 billion under the plan. in child nutrition, a study of 34 high-burden countries, where 90 per cent of the world’s children who suffer stunting live, identified 10 proven interventions with the potential to avert 900,000 under-five deaths. They range from treatment of acute malnutrition to complementary feeding, breastfeeding, and vitamin a and The STaTe of The World’S Children 2016 30