Make Every Mother and Child Count
Thursday, 7 April 2005
Make Every Mother and Child Count
Approximately 30 000 women a year die in pregnancy or childbirth, more than three million babies are stillborn, more than four million newborns die within the first days or weeks of life. Altogether 10.6 million children a year die before their fifth birthday. These figures are featured in “the World Health Report” that has been released by the World Health Organisation. The report focuses on the health of mothers and children as it states "it is at the core of the struggle against poverty and inequality, as a matter of human rights"
The report, released today to mark World Health Day, is called Make Every Mother and Child Count and calls for “wider use of key interventions and a "continuum of care" approach for mother and child that begins before pregnancy and extends through childbirth and into the baby's childhood”.
The report focuses on those developing countries where progress in maternal and child health is slow, stagnating or has even seemed to move backwards in recent years. Within such countries, less than half of mothers and newborns receive care, falling well short of what is needed. Make every mother and child count is a wide-ranging study of the obstacles to health facing women before and during pregnancy, in childbirth, and in the weeks, months and years that follow for them and their children. It pays particular attention to the plight of newborns, whose specific needs have "fallen between the cracks" separating maternal and child care programmes.
It is also being published in the "report card year" of the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), two of which are to improve maternal and child health drastically by the year 2015.
The event is being marked in many countries, with a major launch in New Delhi, India.
The World Health Organization is the United Nations specialized agency for health. It was established on 7 April 1948, which is now World Health Day in celebration of the founding of the organization.
For More info on report click here.
Concern is running a project in Rwanda that is contributing to a sustainable reduction in maternal and child mortality and morbidity, and increased life expectancy. It's called the Child Survival Project.
Click here to read case study of the project.
