Although poor perinatal conditions are still the main cause of infants' dying in the region, infections and diseases are the main killers of children under five.
According to UNICEF, the under-five mortality rates in most of the sub-Saharan countries appear to be less affected by household wealth than in other developing regions. This is in part explained by the high levels of absolute poverty still prevailing in these countries, which are translated into the lack of adequate and essential services at the household level, and lack of health infrastructure and basic resources. However, children born into the poorest 20 percent of the population are 1.7 times more likely to die before the age of five than the wealthiest 20 percent, with an excess under-five mortality rate of 80 deaths per thousand live births (181 vs. 100 respectively).
