G8 countries need to prioritize mothers and children

CARE International is calling on the world leaders gathering in Canada for the G8 Summit to live up to the promise they made last year in Italy. CARE supports the Canadian government’s prioritization of maternal and child health at the upcoming G8 Summit and calls on all G8 nations to come prepared to reach an agreement that includes an action plan and concrete funding commitments to support health care interventions that will save the lives of millions of mothers and children every year.

“Maternal mortality is nothing short of an epidemic.  Worldwide, hundreds of thousands of women die from complications during pregnancy or childbirth each year – that’s one woman dying nearly every minute of every day,” said Teresa Chiesa, CARE Health Specialist. “These women aren’t dying because we don’t know how to prevent their deaths. They are dying because the world is failing to help.”

Of all the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the world has made the least progress in achieving the targets set for goals four and five: reducing maternal and child mortality and achieving universal access to reproductive health.  Many countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia, have made little or no progress at all in reducing maternal mortality. Significant investment is needed if goals four and five are to be achieved by the 2015 deadline.

CARE International, in partnership with other international organizations that work on maternal, newborn and child health programs, is calling on G8 nations to commit to a doubling of resources to $4 billion annually to accelerate progress on MDGs 4 & 5, including investing in health systems that deliver quality interventions along the continuum of care in communities, clinics and hospitals.  These investments would leverage the $30 billion (USD) in total global funding needed by 2015 to support maternal, newborn and child health care interventions.

“We don’t have to wait for a medical breakthrough to save women’s lives. We already know how to prevent 90 per cent of all maternal deaths,” said Chiesa. “CARE believes that women everywhere, in the world’s most vulnerable communities, have the right to the same quality health care that we take for granted.”

CARE has more than 50 years of experience delivering maternal and child health projects in vulnerable communities around the world. In Tanzania, Rwanda and Ethiopia, CARE has succeeded in helping reduce fatality rates in emergency obstetric care facilities by 30 to 50 per cent. In Peru, CARE  programs strengthened community capacity to address maternal health risks resulting in a 50 per cent reduction in maternal mortality in remote communities and a doubling of women accessing health services and treatment for obstetric complications in health centers. With its Mothers Matter program, CARE’s goal is to make pregnancy and delivery safer for 30 million women in Africa, Asia and Latin America by 2015.