PHA-Exch> UN-BACKED GLOBAL DRIVE TO SLASH MATERNAL AND CHILD DEATHS KICKS OFF

[Claudio Schuftan]

From: Vern Weitzel <vern at coombs.anu.edu.au>
From: UNNews at un.org

>From public rallies in various locations in New York to a meeting of women
leaders at the United Nations, Governments and organizations are uniting to
<" http://www.who.int/pmnch/events/2007/delivernowpr.pdf">launch a new
global
and unprecedented drive today to slash maternal and child deaths.

The "Deliver Now for Women + Children" initiative is a direct response to
warnings by the UN that the world is lagging behind in achieving the
Millennium
Development Goals to cut maternal and child deaths by 2015.

"Today is a day of hope for women and children. The cause of women's and
children's health has remained 'orphaned' for too long. Now it is finally
emerging from the shadows and gaining the champions it has always deserved,"
said Francisco Songane, UN World Health Organization (WHO) Director of the
Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health, which is coordinating the
new
drive.

A woman dies needlessly during pregnancy or childbirth every minute, while a
child under five dies every three seconds, according to the new initiative.
Most
of these over 10 million deaths annually are preventable.

An additional $9 billion yearly is needed to meet the basic health care
needs of
women and children, but as of 2004 only $2 billion – less than a quarter of
the
funds required – were made available to help save women and children's lives
in
developing countries.

The new campaign hopes to build political commitment to bolster health
services,
raise awareness in the media and support community groups.

"We are hopeful this will result in action to ensure health services are
available for all with prompt access and without discrimination," Dr.
Songane said.

Country-specific programmes will first be launched in India and Tanzania.
India
accounts for one in four of the world's child deaths and one in five of its
maternal deaths, and half of the women in Tanzania have no access to skilled
care during childbirth.

In New York, public rallies for the campaign are being held in Manhattan and
the
Bronx, with the participation of supermodel and WHO Goodwill Ambassador for
Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Liya Kebede, singer Chaka Khan and
actress
and talk show host Ricky Lake.

Meanwhile at UN Headquarters, Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro, <"
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/en">WHO Director-General Margaret Chan, UN
Population Fund (<"http://www.unfpa.org">UNFPA) Executive Director Thoraya
Obaid
and UN Children's Fund (<"http://www.unicef.org">UNICEF) Executive Director
Ann
Veneman are participating in a discussion entitled "Saving 77 Million by
2015:
Advancing the Health of Women and Children."

Today's campaign is part of the broader effort being announced today by the
Norwegian Prime Ministers and other national leaders at the annual meeting
in
New York of the Clinton Global Initiative.
2007-09-26 00:00:00.000
___________________

For more details go to UN News Centre at http://www.un.org/news
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