WHO: young child deaths down a third since 1990

(AP) -- The World Health Organization says almost a third fewer young children are dying than in 1990.

The global health body says about 9 million children under 5 years old died in 2007, the last year with figures available.

WHO says the number of under-5 deaths was 12.5 million in 1990.

The Geneva-based body says the 27 percent drop shows progress in achieving a two-thirds cut in deaths by 2015. That is one of the U.N.'s so-called 'Millennium Development Goals'.

The figures were among more than 100 health trends published Thursday by the World Health Organization.

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