SAVE THE CHILDREN UK: response to UNICEF report
15 JANUARY 2009 - David Mepham, Save the Children’s director of policy, said: “Every minute a mother dies in child birth or from pregnancy-related complications and the vast majority of these deaths are preventable. The social repercussions on every family and community affected are devastating.
“It is time for political leaders to recognise that maternal, newborn and child mortality are inextricably linked and we cannot achieve a breakthrough in one without the others. The response to these must be rooted in accessible health care and adequate nutrition for all and support for both the mother and child before, throughout and directly after child birth.”
Additional resources need to be matched by a sea-change in commitment from leaders around the world. We know what needs to be done to save the lives of mothers, newborns and children but what we are seeing is the lack of political attention to make this a priority.
“Mothers, newborns and children are dying today in the poorest communities in shacks and ill-equipped clinics through lack of action from world leaders. Save the Children hopes this report can galvanise both money and action from world leaders and only then will families be able to make decisions based on the confidence that mothers and children survive.”
For more information, please contact the Save the Children UK Press Office on 0207 012 6700