PHA-Exch> UNICEF: Integrated health strategies can save children's lives

[Claudio Schuftan]

From: HREA


 UNICEF publishes State of the World's Children Report 2008
[A*ny reactions to the mixed message conveyed in the report and in the
comments by WHO and by the WB?  Claudio].*

GENEVA, 22 JANUARY 2008 – Strategies that can help reduce the number of
children who die before their fifth birthday were highlighted today, at the
launch of UNICEF's flagship report - The State of the World's Children 2008:
Child Survival – in Geneva.

While recent data show a fall in the rate of under-five mortality, the State
of the World's Children Report 2008 goes beyond the numbers to suggest
actions and initiatives that should lead to further progress.

"Community-level integration of essential services for mothers, newborns and
young children, and sustainable improvements in national health systems can
save the lives of many of the more than 26,000 children under five who die
each day," said Ann M. Veneman, UNICEF Executive Director. "The report
describes the impact of simple, affordable life-saving measures, such as
exclusive breastfeeding, immunization, insecticide-treated bed nets and
vitamin A supplementation, all of which have helped to reduce child deaths
in recent years."

The report's analysis also reveals that far more needs to be done to
increase access to treatments and means of prevention, so the devastating
impact of pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria, severe acute malnutrition and HIV
can be better addressed.

The challenge is to ensure children have access to a continuum of health
care, backed by strong national health systems.

"Stepping up investment in health systems will be crucial if we are to meet
the child health targets set by the United Nations, but progress can be made
even when health systems are weak," said Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General
of the World Health Organization. "Innovative programs in many countries
show that an integrated approach where each child is reached with a package
of interventions at one time can bring immediate benefits."

The new information in The State of the World's Children 2008 is drawn from
household survey data as well as material from key partners, including the
World Health Organization and the World Bank.

It provides examples of successful initiatives, such as the Accelerated
Child Survival and Development Initiative, which provides integrated primary
care to impoverished households in sub-Saharan Africa, and the Measles
Initiative; a global campaign that has helped to reduce measles deaths by
around 68 per cent worldwide, and by more than 90 per cent in Africa, since
2000.

The approach to child survival that the report advocates would see the best
disease-specific initiatives combined with investment in strong national
health systems to create a continuum of care for mothers, newborns and young
children that extends from the household, to the local clinic, to the
district hospital and beyond.

The report emphasizes the need to involve local communities. These
communities generate necessary demand for quality health care and their
engagement is vital if marginalized and remote populations are to be
reached.

Nowhere is the need for life-saving strategies more apparent than in
sub-Saharan Africa where, on average, one child in every six dies before
their fifth birthday. In 2006, almost half of all under-five deaths occurred
in sub-Saharan Africa, even though less than one quarter of the world's
children live there.

The report provides information on a strategic framework developed by
UNICEF, WHO, and the World Bank – at the invitation of the African Union –
to help African countries and others reduce the toll of maternal and child
deaths. The framework calls for:

- Good data to inform policies and programmes;
- A shift to combine disease-specific and nutrition interventions in
integrated packages to ensure a continuum of care;
- The mainstreaming of maternal, newborn and child health and nutrition into
national strategic planning processes to scale up and strengthen health
systems;
- Improved quality and increased, predictable financing for strengthening
health systems;
- Political commitments to approaches that provide a continuum of care; and
- The harmonization of global health programmes and partnerships.

"Child survival is not only a human rights imperative, it is also a
development imperative," said Joy Phumaphi, Vice President, Human
Development Network at the World Bank. "Investing in the health of children
and their mothers is a sound economic decision and one of the surest ways
for a country to set its course towards a better future."





Crossposted from HREA - www.hrea.org

Human Rights Education Associates (HREA) is an international
non-governmental organisation that supports human rights learning; the
training of activists and professionals; the development of educational
materials and programming; and community-building through on-line
technologies.
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