Yemen achieved this goal in 2010 when UNICEF recorded the under-five child mortality rate 77 deaths per 1,000 live births. In 1990, this figure was 128 deaths per 1,000 live births. In order for Yemen to achieve this goal, it had to reduce its 1990 figure by two-thirds to 82 deaths per 1,000 live births by 2015. This sharp decline in the under-five mortality rate shows that Yemen has taken significant steps to tackle this grave problem. The Ministry of Health has expanded its healthcare services to a larger number of rural areas. It has also initiated a midwife program to help ensure the correct delivery of babies in these areas. Addition, the ministry has expanded its vaccination programs for diseases such as polio and measles. In 2008, the Yemenis Minister of Health stated in the IRIN newspaper that “In 2005, 1,200 children died of measles but in 2007 no case was reported. Four hundred cases of polio were reported in 2005 but since February 2006 no case has been reported," he said, calling on the World Health Organization and UNICEF to conduct a new survey on child mortality in Yemen.” Although Yemen has made significant headway on this issue, this child mortality rate is still very high compared to that of the developing world (8 deaths per 1,000 live births). The Ministry of Health needs to improve on this result by expanding their services to cover more areas and the government needs to provide more funding to the healthcare sector.