PRETTY MUCH SINCE THE FALL OF COMMUNISM, HUH?:

Child Mortality Rate Declines Globally (CELIA W. DUGGER, 9/10/09, NY Times)

The child mortality rate has declined by more than a quarter in the last two decades — to 65 per 1,000 live births last year from 90 in 1990 — in large part because of the widening distribution of relatively inexpensive technologies, like measles vaccines and anti-malaria mosquito nets.

Other simple practices have helped, public health experts say, including a rise in breast-feeding alone for the first six months of life, which protects children from diarrhea caused by dirty water.