2010 Top stories, features and spotlights
April - June 2010
25 JUNE 2010 | GENEVA| MUSKOKA - The announcement from the G8 Leaders of the Muskoka Initiative - with $5 billion of new funds for maternal and child health over five years - is an important step to realizing the dream of better health for women and children around the world. As host of this year's G8 Summit, Canada pledged $1.1 billion of that amount. An additional $ US 2.3 billion was also promised at the time by non-G8 countries, donors and foundations. "This welcome news means that the Canadian leader is willing to put women and children first," says Dr Flavia Bustreo, Director of The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH).
25 JUNE 2010 | GENEVA - Today's announcement from the G8 of $5 billion of new funds for maternal and child health over five years is an important step to realizing the dream of better health for women and children around the world. As host of this year's G8 Summit, Canada pledged $1.1 billion of that amount. "This welcome news means that the Canadian leader is willing to put women and children first," says Flavia Bustreo, M.D., Director of The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH).
- G8 Communique announces Mukoka Initaitive on maternal, newborn and child health
- Canada's statement on its G8 commitment
26 JUNE 2010 | MUSKOKA - The G8 Leaders' Communique has outlined the new G8 Initiative focussing on maternal, newborn and child health, for a total of $US 5 billion over the next five years. An additional $ US 2.3 billion has been promised by non-G8 countries, donors and foundations. Prime Minister Stephen Harper had earlier announced the total Canadian contribution for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health would be $2.85 billion over five years, with some $1.1 billion in new money.
22 June 2010 |Geneva – Experts with the Geneva-based Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, representing 300 of the foremost international organizations working on the issue, will take part in a media teleconference Saturday on the outcome of this week’s G8 meeting in Canada at which maternal, newborn and child health will feature prominently
15 June 2010 | Washington DC - In order to measure an intervention’s effect, the effective coverage of the intervention must be tracked in a valid, reliable and comparable way. PMNCH Director, Dr Flavia Bustreo, examined the role of the PMNCH , the resources and tracking of interventions for women’s and children’s health, and highlighted the role of the Countdown to 2015 Initiative and the Joint Action Plan, supported by UN Secretary General.
- Link to opening remarks + Women Deliver website
- Link to Opening session Mr Lake’s remarks at Countdown to 2015
7 June 2010 | Washington DC - The United Nations Secretary – General Ban Ki-moon and Foundation head Melinda Gates were part of the high-level speakers who helped open the Women Deliver and Countdown Conferences in Washington with commitments to women’s and children’s health. At the opening of the Countdown to 2015 at Women Deliver, UNICEF new chief called for statistical and moral success.
4 June 2010 | Washington/Geneva – A lack of skilled attendants at birth accounts for two million preventable maternal deaths, stillbirths and newborn deaths each year, according to the newly released Countdown to 2015 Decade Report (2000-2010).
- Lancet special review of Countdown to 2015 Decade report
- Lancet press release for the special Women Deliver issue
3 June 2010 | London - For special distribution at the Women Deliver and Countdown to 2015 Conferences in Washington, DC, 7-9 June 2010, The Lancet has produced a special issue with five articles focussing on women’s and children’s health. In its June issue, it has produced a Resume of the just-published 2010 Countdown to 2015 Decade Report.
In this week’s Lancet journal, Dr. Christopher Murray (University of Washington) has put forward more evidence of the downward trend in under-five mortality. PMNCH Director, Dr Bustreo’s comments this is good news for women and children worldwide: “....We're making progress, but it is not fast enough. The world has waited far too long to prioritize the lives of women and children. This is why PMNCH stands in firm support of the UN Secretary General's new Joint Action Plan for Healthy Women and Healthy Children, to be launched at the MDG Summit in September.”
20 MAY 2010 | World Health Assembly, Geneva - Civil society and other health leaders gathered to learn more and be consulted on the Joint Action Plan for Women's and Children's Health - a consultation coordinated by PMNCH and partners with the UN Secretary General.
5 MAY 2010 | New Delhi – The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, organized a national consultation on "Repositioning Family Planning for Maternal and Child Health in Addition to Population Stabilization." Several Ministers of India were joined in the discussion by PMNCH Director Dr Flavia Bustreo and partners.
28-30 April 2010 | Dhaka, Bangladesh – NGO Board member BRAC hosted the 8th PMNCH Board Meeting at the end of April in Bangladesh. BRAC also hosted a high-level public event entitled "Mothers and Babies Speak", which was organized jointly by the Government Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, PMNCH and BRAC.
28 APRIL 2010 | HALIFAX – The G8 Development Ministers Meeting concluded today with a consensus to press forward on some of the world’s most urgent development priorities, including a Canadian-led G8 initiative to save the lives of millions of mothers and children under the age of five.
14 APRIL 2010 | UNITED NATIONS, NEW YORK – The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hosted a high-level luncheon and press conference to announce the development of a Joint Action Plan for accelerating progress on maternal and newborn health leading up to the UN MDGs Summit in September. The launch included President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete of Tanzania, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg of Norway, Indonesian Vice President Boediono, United States Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius and Canadian Minister of International Cooperation Beverley Oda.
13 APRIL 2010 / NEW YORK - Widespread global use of known and proven maternal and childcare techniques, practices, and therapies could save the lives of millions of women, newborns and children each year, according to a new analysis prepared for a mid-April meeting of world leaders and technical experts on maternal and child health.
12 April 2010 | Geneva – "The Lancet has published an important article by researchers at the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME)... reporting significant progress in reducing the unacceptably high number of maternal deaths in many low income countries.
9 April 2010 | London – A joint study - Public financing of health in developing countries: a cross-national systematic analysis developed by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington and Harvard Medical School – was launched a day-long symposium that gathered experts in public health and health financing, with participation from the PMNCH Chairs and Director.