Background 

More than 7.5 million children globally die each year before reaching the age of five. Most are from poor communities and live in the poorest countries. These children are more likely than others to suffer from malnutrition and from infections such as neonatal sepsis, measles, diarrhoea, malaria, and pneumonia. 

Effective strategies to prevent and treat sick children are available but do not reach them. One reason for this is that health care services are often too far away or too expensive. Health facilities in these settings often lack supplies and well-trained health care workers. In addition, ill children may have several health problems at the same time, and this can make diagnosis and treatment difficult for health care workers.

Key findings

- Integrated management of childhood illness may lead to fewer deaths among children from birth to five years of age.

- Integrated management of childhood illness may have little or no effect on the number of children suffering from stunting  

- Integrated management of childhood illness probably has little or no effect on the number of children who receive measles vaccines.