One of the targets of the Millennium Development Goals is to reduce child mortality by two third between 1990 and 2015. According to the 2008 assessment of countdown to 2015, Eritrea is on track to meet this goal, with consistent progress in reducing child deaths with an average annual reduction of around 4% over the last decade.

Still, infant and under5 mortality rates in Eritrea are considered high in reference to the MDG 4 target, which is 49/1000 Live Births by 2015.