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It is revealed in a recent study that lives of millions of children and pregnant women in developing countries could be saved by minimal investment of $5 per person. Basic healthcare services for children against contagious diseases like malaria and pneumonia and contraception in women could help save tens of thousands of lives that die every year.

It is estimated that about 300,000 women and six million children aged under five, died in 2015, probably due to lack of proper healthcare services, according to a report published in The Lancet medical journal. It is to be noted that about 95 percent of the deaths are found to have occurred in 74 countries that fall under low and middle categories, noted The Malay Mail Online.

Young children are generally prone to infections and malnutrition infants are more vulnerable to contagious diseases like malaria and pneumonia. With no proper intervention, children affected by such diseases tend to lose their lives more easily.

As far as women are concerned, mortality during pregnancy and delivery are on the rise. Women face lot of challenges during pregnancy and infections associated with gestation are more than just risky for both mother and the child. And delivery which has become a simple process in the developed countries with lot of medical advancements to ensure the safety of the mother and the child still remains a nightmare in most of the developing countries.

"Many of these deaths could be prevented if high-impact and affordable solutions reached the populations that needed them most," study leader Robert Black of John Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Health said in a statement. "Our analysis shows that expanding access to care to keep more mothers and children alive and healthy is feasible, and a highly cost-effective investment."

The investigators have also noted that with proper access to contraception, about 440,000 newborn deaths and 67,000 maternal mortalities could have been contained. On the other hand, about 564,000 of stillbirth a year could have been prevented with the use of contraception. It is also reported that family planning could help prevent 28 million pregnancies thereby saving around 1.5 million lives a year, according to US News.

"For less than $5 per person, essential health services could reach the people who are most in need of them. Community health workers or primary health centers can deliver the majority of these services, which reduces the cost of expanding coverage," Black said.