United Nations Children's Fund (New York)
22 January 2008
press release
Monrovia — Strategies that can help reduce the number of children who die before their fifth birthday were highlighted today, at the Liberian launch of UNICEF's flagship report - The State of the World's Children 2008: Child Survival – in Monrovia.
President of Liberia, Madam Ellen Johson – Sirleaf, who has contributed an article to the report titled "Child survival in post-conflict situations: Liberia's challenges and triumphs", will launch the publication in Monrovia on 22 January in the presence of the UNICEF Regional Director Dr. Esther Guluma.
While recent data show a fall in the rate of under-five mortality, the State of the World's Children Report 2008 (SOWCR08) goes beyond the numbers to suggest actions and initiatives that should lead to further progress.
"Community-level integration of essential services for mothers, newborns and young children, and sustainable improvements in national health systems can save the lives of many of the more than 26,000 children under five who die each day," said Ann M. Veneman, UNICEF Executive Director. "The report describes the impact of simple, affordable life-saving measures, such as exclusive breastfeeding, immunization, insecticide-treated bed nets and vitamin A supplementation, all of which have helped to reduce child deaths in recent years."
The report's analysis also reveals that far more needs to be done to increase access to treatments and means of prevention, so the devastating impact of pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria, severe acute malnutrition and HIV can be better addressed.
The challenge is to ensure children have access to a continuum of health care, backed by strong national health systems.
The new information in The State of the World's Children 2008 is drawn from household survey data as well as material from key partners, including the World Health Organization and the World Bank.
It provides examples of successful initiatives, such as the Accelerated Child Survival and Development Initiative, which provides integrated primary care to impoverished households in sub-Saharan Africa, and the Measles Initiative; a global campaign that has helped to reduce measles deaths by around 68 per cent worldwide, and by more than 90 per cent in Africa, since 2000.
The approach to child survival that the report advocates would see the best disease-specific initiatives combined with investment in strong national health systems to create a continuum of care for mothers, newborns and young children that extends from the household, to the local clinic, to the district hospital and beyond.
The report emphasizes the need to involve local communities. These communities generate necessary demand for quality health care and their engagement is vital if marginalized and remote populations are to be reached.
The flagship publication provides information on a strategic framework developed by UNICEF, WHO, and the World Bank – at the invitation of the African Union – to help African countries and others reduce the toll of maternal and child deaths. The framework calls for:
"There needs to be renewed momentum around the issue of child survival… We want to ensure that our children move beyond survival and into a phase of development that enables them to thrive and transform them into productive citizens" underlines Mrs. Johnson-Sirleaf.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 United Nations Children's Fund. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
