2011 Top stories
April - June
20 JUNE 2011 | DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA – The PMNCH Director, Dr Carole Presern, welcomes and applauds the new report: State of the World’s Midwifery 2011: Delivering Health, Saving Lives: “The launch of the report is an important milestone. Now the great energy and momentum of the launch needs to be taken forward from Durban, through advocacy to secure political and financial commitments,” said Dr. Carole Presern, director of the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health.
JUNE 2011 - A high-level commission to improve global reporting, oversight and accountability for women's and children’s health – the Commission on Information and Accountability for Women’s and Children’s Health – was established in January 2011 following the launch of the Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health in September 2010 at the UN with increased pledges worldwide to achieve Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 4 and 5 to reduce child mortality and improve maternal health.
19-23 JUNE | DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA - Thousands of midwives from some 111 countries gathered for the ICM Triennial Congress and launch the first-ever State of the World’s Midwifery Report 2011: Delivering Health, Saving Lives. The Congress started with an inaugural 5 km walk by Congress delegate and supporters -- including the First Ladies of Kenya and Malawi. The landmark event also launched a major global report on the state of the world's midwifery, created in partnership with 26 international agencies, including ICM and led by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA). The PMNCH organized a session: midwives filling the human resource gap for better maternal, newborn and child health.
10 JUNE 2011 | UNITED NATIONS - More than 3000 people including 30 Heads of State came together for the UN General Assembly High Level Meeting on AIDS to take stock of the last 30 years and shape the future AIDS response. They adopted a declaration for the next five years which included targets and promises which included maternal and child health as well as a programme to ensure no new infections in children
1-2 JUNE 2011 | GENEVA – The PMNCH Board met for its 10th Board meeting, electing Ms Purnima Mane, Deputy Executive Director of UNFPA, as the new Co-Chair and approving a new 2012-15 PMNCH Strategic Framework. Another major decision was the addition of a new private sector constituency, to formalise current engagement, particularly in the context of the Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health. Several new Board members, announced in March 2011, also attended their first PMNCH Board meeting.
27 MAY 2011| GENEVA - G8 Leaders recommitted to improve maternal health and reduce child mortality, particularly through the Muskoka Initiative for MNCH, which was first launched in June 2010 at the G8 Muskoka Summit. ''Often political agendas come and go, so we are very heartened to see that one year later, the G8 remains focussed on reducing preventable deaths of women and children,'' says Dr PMNCH Director, Carole Presern.
26-27 MAY 2011 | DEAUVILLE, FRANCE - World leaders of the Group of Eight - or the G8 – have recommitted to improve maternal health and reduce child mortality, particularly through the Muskoka Initiative for MNCH which was first launched in June 2010 at Canada’s G8 Summit. G8 countries gathered in France where they agreed to the Deauville Declaration. ''Often political agendas come and go, so we are very heartened to see that one year later, the G8 remains focussed on reducing preventable deaths of women and children,'' says Dr. Carole Presern, PMNCH Director.
19 MAY 2011 | WHA GENEVA - Health leaders from around the world took part in a World Health Assembly Technical Briefing as the Commission on Information and Accountability presented its recommendations to go forward and its accountability report: Keeping Promises, Measuring Results - a report referred by many as "gamechanging".
MAY 2011 | GENEVA - A pledging conference entitled “Saving children’s lives” for GAVI Alliance GAVI Alliance partners, GAVI donors, co-financing countries and vaccine manufacturers will assemble on 13 June 2011 in London United Kingdom to address the need to raise US$ 3.7 billion to scale-up immunisation programmes between 2011 and 2015 with the aim of saving four million lives. The Alliance’s Civil Society Organizations have come together to call on donors to fully fund the Alliance’s new strategy.
18 MAY 2011 | GENEVA - A G8 report released today in Paris indicating an increase in financing for women's and children's health was welcomed by the PMNCH. In 2010, the G8 launched the Muskoka Initiative for MNCH, with an initial commitment of US$5 billion by 2015. The G8 2011 Accountability Report today suggests that collectively the G8 will surpass this initial commitment by roughly 53%.
18 MAY 2011 | DEAUVILLE, France – The Group of Eight (G8) has released the Deauville Accountability Report – G8 Commitments on Health and Food Security: State of Delivery and Results. The 2011 report is the second Accountability Report from the G8 on the delivery and outcomes of aid promised at previous G8 meetings
17 MAY 2011 | GENEVA - Some 120 representatives of Ministries of Health and development partners gathered during a side breakfast meeting at the World Health Assembly to discuss the preliminary findings of the first-ever report – The State of the World’s Midwifery – to be published in June 2011 through an initiative led by UNFPA and supported by 27 partners.
16-21 MAY 2011 | Geneva, Switzerland —The Sixty-fourth World Health Assembly has adjourned, with major decisions to support reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health (RMNCH). Countries have made declared new commitments to the Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health, and the new recommendations and the advance Report from the Commission on Information and Accountability for Women’s and Children’s Health were made public.
GENEVA, 13 May 2011 -- An increasing number of countries are facing a double burden of disease as the prevalence of risk factors for chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart diseases and cancers increase and many countries still struggle to reduce maternal and child deaths caused by infectious diseases, for the Millennium Development Goals, according to the World Health Statistics 2011 released by the World Health Organization (WHO). WHO has also launched a new statistics website: the Global Health Observatory.
3-6 MAY 2011 | Cape Town, South Africa - Several key private and public sector stakeholders discussed private sector actions and commitments to the UN Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health at a workshop at the World Economic Forum 2011 in Cape Town, South Africa organized by World Vision International, Intel, PMNCH, mHealth Alliance and the UN Foundation.
WASHINGTON, DC, 3 May 2011 — US Attorney General Hillary Clinton has announced a new public-private partnership to improve women’s access to healthcare in the developing world through the use of mobile health technology.
MAY 2011 | Mothers from around the world are being honoured this Mothers’ Day for all they do to ensure the health and well-being of their children. PMNCH members have marked Mothers Day –often held in May - in many ways, including the launch of new reports and a new partnership called MAMA. Midwives worldwide mark 5 May as the International Day of the Midwife.
DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA, 2 May 2011 – New recommendations calling for an unprecedented level of accountability to save the lives of more women and children in developing countries were agreed today by the Commission on Information and Accountability for Women’s and Children’s Health.
APRIL 2011 | The Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health is highlighting commitments to the Global Strategy on its website—and is urging all those who have made commitments to join in with on-line highlights of commitments.
27 April, 2011 | Moscow -- Noncommunicable diseases are the leading killer today and are on the increase, the first World Health Organization (WHO) Global Status Report on Noncommunicable Diseases launched today confirms. 36.1 million people died from conditions such as heart disease, strokes, chronic lung diseases, cancers and diabetes in 2008--nearly 80% of these deaths occurred in low- and middle-income countries.
Paris, France, 4 April 2011 — Living Proof, launched by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in partnership with ONE, is telling the real story of the incredible progress being achieved by some of the world's poorest people.
16 APRIL 2011 | PANAMA CITY - Parliamentarians from around the world at the 124th IPU Assembly were told they could make an important difference in the health of women and children –this message from both the Executive Director of UN Women, Ms Michelle Bachelet and PMNCH Director, Dr Carole Presern. PMNCH also held a roundtable in which parliamentarians discussed their role in ensuring accountability in key MNCH health initiatives including the Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health, with an update on the Initiative – the Countdown to 2015 in Maternal, Newborn and Child Survival—from Dr Andres de Francisco.
- NEW: “Investing in Health for Africa: the Case for Strengthening Systems for Better Health Outcomes”
14 APRIL 2011 - A new Report by partners with PMNCH –“Investing in Health for Africa” -- says that Africa’s current economic growth can be improved if concerted efforts are made to improve the continent’s health care systems and that investing in the African health sector could help save millions of lives, prevent life-long disabilities and help achieve the UN’s MDGs. PMNCH/NGO submission.
14 APRIL 2011 | Nairobi - African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development have committed to increase health spending, noting the importance of investing in human development and health to stimulate and sustain economic growth at a recent joint conference with the U.N. Economic Commission for Africa.
14 APRIL 2011 | LONDON, GENEVA - Some 2.6 million third trimester stillbirths occur worldwide every year according to the first comprehensive set of estimates published in a special series in The Lancet which was authored by 69 experts from more than 50 organizations including PMNCH.
7 April 2011 — The rising threat of antimicrobial resistance was in the spotlight on World Health Day, beginning with WHO’s call for urgent action to slow down the spread of drug resistance, limit its impact today and preserve medical advances for future generations.