September 19, 2011, New York, NY - At least 350 million children will never see a health worker in their lives, warns Save the Children in a major new report released today, No child out of reach. The shortfall of doctors and nurses around the world means millions of children are dying from easily preventable diseases such as pneumonia and diarrhoea.
Save the Children releases this report as world leaders gather at the UN General Assembly in New York. Across the globe celebrities like Alexis Bledel, Ashley Jensen, Christy Turlington Burns have joined over a million campaigners, putting pressure on their leaders to take action at the UN to make sure no child dies because they can’t see a nurse or doctor.
Christy Turlington Burns, global maternal health advocate and founder of Every Mother Counts, backed the call, saying: “It is unimaginable to go through birth and life without ever receiving the advice and support of a health worker. We know that training just one health worker could help deliver life-saving treatments and save many lives. No mother should die giving life and no child is born to die. It’s time for world leaders to close the health worker gap.”
The new report shows how effective a healthworker can be in stopping children from dying. A single healthworker can reach up to 5,000 children in one year with life saving treatment, and a country with enough doctors and nurses for all can increase a child’s chance of survival fivefold. Bangladesh and Nepal, both low-income countries, are proof that progress is possible. Both have prioritised training health workers in local villages and communities; both have managed to reduce the number of children dying.
Carolyn Miles, CEO at Save the Children said: “It is simply not acceptable for a child to die because a midwife or a nurse is out of reach. Training health workers is simple and inexpensive, yet their impact is immeasurable. Hundreds of children’s lives will be saved by the vaccinations a health worker administers, or by the trained help they can give to pregnant mothers. World leaders must put an end to this scandal and ensure that all children, regardless of where there are born, are able to see a health worker when they need it the most.”
Dr. Joan Shepherd, a healthworker from Sierra Leone who is speaking at the Times Square event said: “Sierra Leone has a tragically high maternal mortality rate because women simply can’t reach a trained midwife or nurse. Those healthworkers that are available lack the advanced training available in other countries. It simply is not acceptable that mothers and babies are dying for no reason. With the support of the international midwifery community and renewed commitment from world leaders attending the UN Summit to fund more healthworkers, we can save more mothers and babies and stop this desperate waste of life”.
The report ‘No child out of reach’ says that world leaders must realise that their unmet promises on health will costs lives.
Over 300 organisations have come behind the call for more health workers, better supported at www.healthworkerscount.org.
PDF download: "No Child out of Reach" (English version)
Save the Children, NGO partners, and hundreds of people gather in Times Square calling for millions more life-saving health workers in the poorest countries.
Jasmine Whitbread, CEO Save the Children International, Dr Joan Shepherd, healthworker from Sierra Leone and Carolyn Miles, CEO Save the Children USA
People take actions calling for millions more life-saving health workers in the poorest countries.
Actress Alexis Bledel Alexis Bledel（third from the left）, Jasmine Whitbread, CEO Save the Children International（fifth from the left), Dr Joan Shepherd, Healthworker from Sierra Leone（seventh from the left）and mums.
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