Brasilia, Sep 10 (IANS): Brazil has seen its child mortality rate fall by 73 percent between 1990 and 2015, according to new statistics by the World Health Organization (WHO).

According to the new report, Levels and Trends in Child Mortality 2015, the rate of death of Brazilian children under five years old dropped from 61 per 1,000 births in 1990 to 16 per 1,000 births in 2015, Xinhua news agency reported.

However, despite these advances, the WHO warned about the inequality persisting in the country and recommended that authorities pay more attention to the needs of the most vulnerable areas.

To back this up, the report said that in certain municipalities, the death rate among young children dropped to 6 per 1,000 birth but skyrocketed to over 80 per 1,000 in 32 municipalities.

Furthermore, indigenous children in Brazil are twice as likely to die in their first year as other children.

In its report, the WHO stated that while certain developing countries have made strong progress in fighting infant mortality, more efforts must be made to reduce disparities in certain social groups.

The WHO also urged more efforts in immediate neonatal care as the report indicated that 45 percent of infant deaths around the world came in the first four weeks.

Overall, the WHO said the number of under-five deaths around the world had fallen from around 12.7 million in 1990 to 5.9 million in 2015.