Figures 'fail to reflect' child deaths

The death of Victoria Climbie led to a major inquiry

More than double the number of children in the UK could be dying through abuse and neglect than previously thought, according to a Unicef study.

The UK's world ranking for child abuse-related deaths is much worse than that given in official league tables, with two children under 15 dying every week, claims the children's rights arm of the UN.

Unicef is calling for deaths currently legally classified as of "uncertain intent" to be included in all figures following its study of the world's 27 richest nations.

Sarah Vincent, of Unicef, said researchers had combined official figures on deaths from maltreatment - submitted to the World Health Organisation (WHO) - with all deaths in the "uncertain" category.

There is a lot that needs to be done in the UK to protect children, both from deaths from abuse and the much wider problem of abuse itself Sarah Vincent, Unicef

"There is growing concern among child protection experts that many of the deaths that are in the 'uncertain intent' category are actually of unprovable maltreatment."

She said creating a truer picture of the scale of abuse would help the UK learn lessons about protecting the lives of children.

"There is a lot that needs to be done in the UK to protect children, both from deaths from abuse and the much wider problem of abuse itself," she said.

The results place the UK near the bottom of the European table, but on official figures it has a relatively good record, in 6th place.

The government figures of 0.4 deaths per 100,000 children more than double under Unicef's method, to 0.9 per 100,000.

Parents

Although child abuse deaths are dropping in industrialised nations, the report claims nearly 3,500 children under 15 die from abuse every year.

The report also found poverty and stress, with drug and alcohol abuse, appear to be the factors most closely associated with child abuse and neglect.

Up to 80% of child abusers are the biological parents, with the risk of death from maltreatment three times greater for the under-ones than for those aged one to four.

A government spokesman told BBC News Online it was important not to make assumptions about deaths from an undetermined cause.

"That said, we all want to do as much we can to reduce the number of child deaths, whatever the cause."

He said the Children's Green Paper sets out plans to reform services to best protect children and ensure each child fulfils their potential.

"It puts forward proposals to make children's services more joined up and more accountable to ensure no child slips through the net," he said.

Five nations - Belgium, the Czech Republic, New Zealand, Hungary and France - were shown to suffer levels of abuse-related deaths four to six times higher than the average for the leading countries, according to Unicef.

But the US, Mexico and Portugal recorded rates between 10 and 15 times higher than those at the top of the table.

Spain, Greece, Italy, Ireland and Norway were recorded as having exceptionally low rates of child-abuse related deaths.