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<DIV><B>From:</B> <A title=afodafro@scs-net.org
href="mailto:afodafro@scs-net.org">Ghassan</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><STRONG><FONT size=2><SPAN
class=ja50-ce-title></SPAN></FONT></STRONG> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><FONT size=2><STRONG><SPAN class=ja50-ce-title>The
coming decade for global action on child health</SPAN> by <SPAN
class=ja50-ce-author><A class=authorLink
href="http://www.thelancet.com/search/results?search_mode=cluster&search_area=cluster&search_cluster=thelancet&search_sort=date&restrictname_author=author&restricttype_author=author&restrictterm_author=horton_r&restrictdesc_author=Richard Horton">Richard Horton</A></SPAN><SPAN
class=ja50-ce-sup> </SPAN><SPAN class=ja50-ce-sup>who wrote another
children focused article at the Lancet: "putting children at the centre" and I
believe that all of us call for more efforts to make every mother and child
count.<SPAN class=ja50-sb-host><SPAN
class=ja50-sb-issue>.</SPAN></SPAN></SPAN></STRONG></DIV>
<P class=MainText_module><STRONG>A new year brings new leadership to tackle the
still appallingly high and largely preventable toll of </STRONG><A
class=ja50-ce-inter-ref
id=http://www.thelancet.com/collections/neonatal_survival/2005
href="http://www.thelancet.com/collections/neonatal_survival/2005"><STRONG>child,
newborn, and maternal deaths worldwide</STRONG></A><STRONG>. Dr Francisco
Songane, an obstetrician and former minister of health in Mozambique, has been
appointed to head the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health. At
the <I>Countdown to 2015</I> conference on Tracking Progress in Child Survival,
held in London last month, Songane set out a compelling vision to intensify and
harmonise national, regional and global action for children. His plan focuses on
meeting two Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). MDG-4 calls for a reduction in
under-5-mortality rates by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015. MDG-5 calls for a
reduction in maternal mortality by three-quarters during the same period. These
goals are tough but achievable.</STRONG></P>
<DIV class=ja50-simple-article>
<DIV class=ja50-body>
<DIV class=ja50-ce-sections>
<P class=ja50-ce-para xmlns:hsp="urn:com.elsevier.elslon.hsp"
xmlns:bib="http://elsevier.co.uk/namespaces/2001/bibliotek"><STRONG>The
<I>Countdown</I> conference arose out of a belief that children had fallen off
the political agenda of international health. Over 10 million under-5 deaths had
been ignored for far too long by governments and even international agencies.
Children were invisible. Lacking votes, they had become marginal to the
mainstream of political debate about human development. Three years ago, a group
of concerned child health experts proposed not only to synthesise knowledge
about child survival but also to catapult the child back onto the policy map of
global health. They succeeded. This work was followed by a similar concerted
effort on newborn survival.The findings of both initiatives were later refined
and costed. The results of intervention programmes began to be translated into
practical policies.</STRONG></P>
<P class=ja50-ce-para xmlns:hsp="urn:com.elsevier.elslon.hsp"
xmlns:bib="http://elsevier.co.uk/namespaces/2001/bibliotek"><STRONG>The final
paper of the first <I>Lancet</I> series called for a mechanism to improve
accountability, re-energise commitment, and recognise successes in child
survival. To these ends, rotating 2-yearly conferences were proposed. The aim of
the first of these <I>Countdown</I> meetings was to present coverage data on 19
indicators of progress towards MDG-4 . These indicators were grouped into
five themes: nutrition, vaccination, other preventive measures, newborn health,
and case management. 60 priority countries that had the highest rates or numbers
of under-5 mortality were identified. These 60 countries included over 90% of
all deaths among children in the world today.</STRONG></P></DIV></DIV></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG>Free full text of the article: </STRONG><STRONG><SPAN
class=MainText_module_italic>The Lancet</SPAN> 2006; <SPAN
class=MainText_module_strong>367</SPAN>:3-5</STRONG></FONT><STRONG><FONT
size=2></DIV></FONT></STRONG></BODY></HTML>