"Tracking progress in maternal, newborn and child survival: Countdown to 2015 - The 2008 Report" was launched at the second Countdown to 2015 Conference held in Cape Town, South Africa, 17-19 April 2008, in conjunction with the 118th Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly. A collaboration among individuals and institutions established in 2005, the Countdown aims to stimulate country action by tracking coverage for interventions needed to attain Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 4 and 5 – and, in addition, parts of MDGs 1, 6 and 7. Through this unified effort national and international policy makers, programme implementers, development and media partners and researchers are working together to: * Summarize, synthesize and disseminate the best and most recent information on country-level progress towards high, sustained and equitable coverage with health interventions to save women and children. * Take stock of progress in maternal, newborn and child survival. * Call on governments, development partners and the broader community to be accountable if rates of progress are not satisfactory. * Identify knowledge gaps that are hindering progress. * Propose new actions to achieve the health-related MDGs, in particular MDGs 4 and 5. The second in a series of reports, Countdown 2008 is based primarily on data drawn from national surveys and global databases. It measures coverage of basic health services proven to reduce maternal and child mortality. It also assesses the strength of health systems, the status of policies related to maternal, newborn and child health and how equitably health services are distributed.