The Ministry of Public Health and Population provided a big boost to IMCI implementation in 2008, introducing the strategy in 54 new districts and 653 health facilities, thus reaching in total more than half of PHC facilities in the country. This is the highest IMCI implementation level per year ever accomplished in Yemen since the IMCI strategy was pilot-tested in 3 districts in the country in 2002. The number of PHC mobile teams, including IMCI care and established in 2007 on a trial basis to increase access of underserved populations to quality health services, also increased to 670 in 64 districts. While under-five mortality remains high, data recently released by WHO suggest that the under-five mortality rate has decreased by 42% between 1990 and 2007. Infectious diseases such as pneumonia and diarrhoeal diseases remain leading causes of death in young children in Yemen: accelerating the implementation of existing cost-effective interventions under the IMCI strategy and introduction of IMCI into pre-service education would help the country move closer to its Millennium Development Goal 4 set for 2015 and provide more hopes to its young children.