Media advisory: Getting women and children on the 2010 G8/G20 agenda
30 NOVEMBER 2009 | OTTAWA, Canada - When G8/G20 world leaders convene in Canada in 2010, The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH) wants them to remember the millions of women and children around the world who die during pregnancy, childbirth or childhood from lack of access to adequate care or lack of trained health care professionals. The Partnership estimates that every minute a woman dies of complications related to pregnancy and child birth. This adds up to more than 500000 women annually and 10 million women over a generation. A child under the age of five dies every three seconds. Almost all of these women and children - 99 % - live and die in developing countries. Almost 7.2 million young children and mothers could be saved every year through affordable, known solutions, yet this incredible tragedy is little-known to most citizens of affluent G8 countries, including Canada.