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During the past few decades there has been remarkable progress on improving global population health and well-being. In this issue of JAMA Pediatrics, the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors (GBD) study reports that the number of child and adolescent deaths worldwide was approximately halved, from 14.2 million in 1990 to 7.3 million in 2015.1 This achievement was in large part owing to reductions in communicable and nutritional causes of postneonatal mortality among children younger than 5 years. Between 2005 and 2015, there was an estimated reduction of 35% in disability-adjusted life years for lower respiratory tract infections, as well as a reduction of 41% for malaria, 23% for proteinenergy malnutrition, 29% for human immunodeficiency virus and AIDS, and 75% for measles.1 Reductions in neonatal causes of death also contributed to overall improvements in child survival since 1990; however, the global rate of decline in newborn deaths was markedly slower compared with that in older children. During 2005-2015, complications of neonatal preterm birth overtook lower respiratory tract infections as the leading cause of global disability-adjusted life years for children and adolescents 19 years or younger and accounted for approximately 800 000 deaths in 2015.1 Another study similarly estimated that complications of preterm birth were the leading cause of global mortality in children younger than 5 years in 2015, with approximately 1 000 000 deaths.2 These 2 estimates, albeit slightly different in number but identical in rank, clearly indicate that, to reach Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3, which calls on all countries to reduce mortality in children younger than 5 years to 25 or fewer per 1000 live births by 2030,3 scaled-up action on neonatal health will be crucial in tandem with strengthened commitment to further reductions in postneonatal child deaths. The GBD report does not include stillbirths in their estimates of disability-adjusted life years.1 An estimated 2.6 million stillbirths, of which three-quarters were preventable, occurred worldwide in 2015.4,5 As with child mortality, there is substantial inequity in global rates of stillbirth, with 3 of every 4 stillbirths occurring in sub-Saharan African and south Asian regions.6 However, the global number of stillbirths has declined at a slower rate than mortality in children younger than 5 years, with only a 19% reduction between 2000 and 2015.4 An estimated 42% of stillbirths and neonatal deaths occur during labor; therefore, equitable access to high-quality antenatal, labor, and newborn services must be a priority to reach targets for global child mortality and stillbirth.6,7 There is increasing recognition in the global health community that adolescent health requires urgent attention, and the GBD study reinforces this notion.1 Adolescence is a critical stage of life marked by significant biological and psychosocial changes that can set a trajectory for well-being across the lifecourse.8 Adolescents face unique challenges in sexual and reproductive health, mental health, violence and injuries, health behaviors associated with substance use, physical activity, and dietary practices.8,9 In addition, even though adolescents aged 10 to 19 years are often spoken of as a uniform population, there is significant variation in their needs and challenges by sex and age. The GBD study determined that interpersonal violence was the 13th ranked cause of death for males aged 10 to 14 years, but increased to the second ranked cause for males aged 15 to 19 years.1 Similarly, self-harm increased from the 13th to the second ranked cause of death for adolescent females during the same age period.1 As a result, effective interventions for adolescent health need to be adaptable to the sexand age-specific physical, emotional, cognitive, and social changes that accompany the transformative period of adolescence. Improving adolescent health will be crucial to meet the maternal and child mortality SDGs owing to the disproportional burden experienced by pregnant adolescent girls and their children.9,10 In 2015 the global maternal mortality ratios for adolescents aged 10 to 14 years and 15 to 19 years were 278 and 142 per 100 000 live births,1 respectively, which far exceed the SDG call for fewer than 70 per 100 000 live births.3 Sub-Saharan Africa—where 23% of the population is between 10 and 19 years—is lagging in many aspects of adolescent health.11 The need to address adolescent health in subSaharan Africa is of particular importance given that the region is projected to have the world’s largest adolescent population by 2050.11 The proportional contribution to adolescent mortality of causes of death related to pregnancy and childbirth is greatest for girls living in sub-Saharan Africa.1 Maternal hemorrhage is the third ranked cause of death for females aged 15 to 19 years in the Western, Eastern, and Central African regions.1 In addition, 1.4 million of the 1.8 million adolescents (approximately 80%) aged 10 to 19 years living with human immunodeficiency virus globally reside in sub-Saharan Africa.12 Human immunodeficiency virus and AIDS are the leading cause Related article Opinion