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Maternal Health: The Countdown to 2015
July 14, 2008
By Unathi Kondile
An initiative by the UN and other groups is working to reduce child and mother mortality to meet the standards set by the Millennium Development Goals. The goals call for the number of mothers and infants who die in childbirth to be cut in half by 2015. From Cape Town, Voice of America English to Africa Service reporter Unathi Kondile looks at the work of the effort called Countdown to 2015: Maternal, Newborn and Child Survival.
The countdown is tracking and publicizing the progress of 68 countries that account for most of the deaths of mothers and children. Experts working on the campaign say 16 countries are on track to reduce mother and child deaths – including Egypt, Morocco and Eritrea. But 26 of the 68 countries, including South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, to name a few, have experienced an increase in the number of child mortality rates.
Ann Starrs is the president of Family Care International and the co-chair of the Board of the Global Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health. She describes the situation in countries that are the focus of the Countdown to 2015 campaign, "When you look at Africa there are a number of countries where child fatalities have gotten worse. Some of those countries are countries that are riddled with conflict, HIV, or the health facilities are just overwhelmed with dealing with such [a] crisis. There are also countries where there've been serious economic downturns. So those countries where there's been a lack of health investments are our priority."
© 2008 newsVOAcom Voice of America
For full article, visit:
http://voanews.com/english/Africa/2008-07-14-voa22.cfm
category: News from Other Sources : General Health News
contributed by Liza Nanni on 14 July 2008
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