PHA-Exch> UNICEF: TARGETED HEALTH STRATEGIES NECESSARY TO SAVE CHILDREN'S LIVES

[Claudio Schuftan]

From: Vern Weitzel <vern at coombs.anu.edu.au>
crossposted from : "[health-vn discussion group]" health-vn at cairo.anu.edu.au

From: UNNews at un.org

UNICEF: TARGETED HEALTH STRATEGIES NECESSARY TO SAVE CHILDREN'S LIVES
New York, Jan 22 2008  2:00PM

With some 26,000 children under the age of five dying every day, bolstered
strategies are crucial to save lives, the United Nations Children's Fund
(<"http://www.unicef.org/">UNICEF) said in its annual flagship report
released
today which stresses that investing in the health of children and their
mothers
is both a human rights and development imperative.

While in 1960 approximately 20 million children did not live to see their
fifth
birthday,  that figure dipped below 10 million – to 9.7 million – for the
first
time in 2006, marking a 60 per cent drop in child mortality rates.

"However, there is no room for complacency," writes Ann M. Veneman, UNICEF's
Executive Director, in her forward to the 164-page
<I><"http://www.unicef.org/sowc08/report/report.php">State of the World's
Children 2008</I> report launched today in Geneva.

She characterized the 9.7 million young lives lost every year as
"unacceptable,
especially when many of these deaths are preventable," and appealed for the
integration at the community level of essential services for mothers and
children.

The new study, which stresses the need for increased access to treatment and
avenues of prevention, underscores the impact that simple and affordable
measures – including immunization, insecticide-treated bed nets and vitamin
A
supplements – can have on saving children's lives.

In spite of progress made in the realm of children's health, dozens of
countries
are not on track to achieve the Millennium Development Goal
(<"http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/">MDG) to reduce child mortality by two
thirds by 2015.

"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 Margaret Chan, Director-General of the
UN
World Health Organization (<"http://www.who.int/mediacentre/en/">WHO).
"Innovative programmes 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 report – which draws on information from household survey data and
materials
from partners such as the WHO and the <"http://www.worldbank.org/">World
Bank –
urges an approach merging disease-specific initiatives with strengthened
national health systems to create a "continuum of care" spanning the
household,
local clinics and communities, and beyond.

Three-quarters of the 62 countries not making necessary advances towards
reaching that target are in Africa. In sub-Saharan Africa, one in every six
children dies before his or her fifth birthday, accounting for nearly half
of
all of the world's under-five deaths in 2006.

To accelerate progress in curbing child and maternal mortality in Africa and
elsewhere, UNICEF, WHO and the World Bank have created a framework that
urges
more rigorous collection of data for research and evaluation, as well as
providing a "continuum of care" by combining disease-specific and nutrition
interventions.

In addition, they advocate bolstering health systems, as well as increasing
political commitment to integrated health strategies and harmonizing global
health programmes and partnerships.
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