LONDON (AP) – Health experts will call for a new global plan on child survival during a one-day symposium at the United Nations today, officials said, warning that without significant changes to current strategies, millions of children will continue to die before they reach age five.

The number of preventable child deaths each year is double that of all people who die from AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined. At the symposium, organised by the British medical journal The Lancet, UNICEF and Norway, world leaders and health experts will discuss ways to reduce child mortality and galvanise international support.

Every year, 10.5 million children die before age five – 29,000 children every day, UNICEF said.

Health officials said they will argue for a shift in priorities, pointing out that the largest single killer of children is pneumonia – a disease that kills two million children each year, more than the combined toll of AIDS, malaria and measles.

“This is both a frightening failure and also reveals an incredible opportunity for success,” Lancet editor Richard Horton said. While experts called for more action to protect children’s health, they noted that the tools necessary to do so are already available.

“There’s no scientific justification for this paralysis,” Horton said.