Hopeful Signs in Malawi (slideshow)

The number of children dying before their fifth birthdays each year has fallen below nine million for the first time on record, decreasing to 8.8 million last year from 12.5 million in 1990. One of the most vertiginous drops in child mortality has occurred in Malawi, a country in southeastern Africa that is so poor that half the children are stunted by malnutrition. It is so bereft of doctors and nurses that workers with 10th-grade educations dispense antibiotics.
New York Times slideshow // 11 photos