About Child Health Now
Child Health Now is World Vision’s first global advocacy campaign.
We will campaign for governments in both developed and developing countries to meet their commitments to Millennium Development Goal 4: to reduce child mortality by two-thirds.
The need for Child Health Now
Every year, 8.1 million children are dying before their 5th birthday – many from neonatal complications and preventable causes like diarrhoea, pneumonia and malaria. Every year, more than 340,000 women in the developing world die from complications during pregnancy and childbirth.
Children whose mothers die are ten times more likely to die before their 5th birthday. This link illustrates why preventing child deaths means attending to maternal and child health together.
Although progress has been made in reducing child deaths - from over 10 million in 2006 to 8.1 million in 2010 - more still needs to be done. Unfortunately, many countries have lacked both political will and resources to improve maternal and child health.
More must be done by governments around the world to meet their Millennium Development Goal commitment: to reduce child and maternal mortality by 2015.
Child Health Now's focus
The goal of the campaign is for all families to have access to prevention, care and education so they can ensure their children remain healthy. Child Health Now aims to ensure that:
mothers and children are well nourished, protected from infection and disease and have access to essential healthcare.
There are five inexpensive solutions that could save millions of lives if countries invested their resources to deliver them.
These simple solutions include:
- supplying treated bed nets, to protect against mosquitoes and malaria infection;
- access to zinc and oral rehydration, particularly in areas with poor water quality and sanitation levels;
- promoting the lifesaving practice of exclusive breastfeeding;
- training and providing access to skilled birth attendants; and
- ensuring access to immunisation programs.
Who Child Health Now helps
Child Health Now is a global campaign working with families and communities throughout the key regions of sub Saharan Africa and south Asia to achieve improved health aims. In Australia’s own neighbourhood, those countries with the greatest needs to address maternal and child health – including Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, and Indonesia – can benefit from our increased involvement in the issue.