Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) is a systematic approach to children's health which focuses on the whole child.
Seven in 10 of these deaths are due to acute respiratory infections (mostly pneumonia), diarrhea, measles, malaria, or malnutrition – and often to a combination of these conditions[citation needed] Many well-known prevention and treatment strategies have already proven effective for saving young lives.
[citation needed] During the mid-1990s, the World Health Organization (WHO), in collaboration with UNICEF and many other agencies, institutions and individuals, responded to this challenge by developing a strategy known as the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI).
The objectives of the strategy are to reduce death and the frequency and severity of illness and disability, and to contribute to improved growth and development.
[citation needed] The IMCI clinical guidelines target children less than five years old – the age group that bears the highest burden of deaths from common childhood diseases.