Leaders of the Group of Eight leading industrial countries must take urgent action to save the lives of millions of mothers and children when they meet in Canada on June 25. The G8 leaders have been handed an opportunity to act by the Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, who has identified the health of mothers and children as his key initiative at the summit.
Due to the efforts of Save the Children and a small group of NGOs, professional associations and citizens groups, the Canadian government has pledged to make children’s health a priority at the upcoming G8 Summit.
Save the Children urges the G8 leaders to act decisively and support Prime Minister Harper’s initiative to dramatically reduce the unacceptable number of preventable deaths among mothers, newborns and young children. But the international humanitarian agency warned that the initiative must be bold, concrete and the leaders must hold themselves accountable to prevent the deaths of nearly 9 million children under 5 and 350,000 mothers who die every year.
Of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that all countries adopted in 2000, those targeting the health of women and children are furthest off track.
MDG 4 is to reduce under-five mortality to one third of 1990 levels, while MDG 5 is to reduce maternal deaths to one quarter of 1990 levels. Proven, affordable health interventions to meet these goals already exist, and Save the Children has been delivering them in countries around the world for many years.
Until now, world leaders have failed to commit the investment and political support needed to put lifesaving prevention and treatment within reach of the world’s most vulnerable children and mothers. As a result, millions of babies and their mothers still die each year as a result of pneumonia, diarrhea, and complications.
By committing to a substantive maternal and child health initiative, world leaders would do more than save lives; they would make a responsible investment in future economic and political stability at a time of uncertainty. Every year, the world loses an estimated $15 billion in productivity as a result of maternal, newborn, and child mortality. When mothers and children face the prospect of healthy lives, social stability follows as well, making their health a good investment for all.
In 2009, Save the Children’s launched the EVERY ONE campaign – a global initiative that seeks to reduce the number of deaths of young children by two-thirds by 2015.
Save the Children works with governments and organizations around the world to help provide inexpensive solutions through treatments and education. For instance, one community health worker costs only $150 to train but will provide priceless life-sustaining care to approximately 100 children a year.
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