Looking to Africa’s LDCs to Learn How to Save the Lives of Millions of Mothers and their Babies

Bosena, 25, sits on the side of a busy road in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital, with a baby in her arms. Ethiopia is among the countries listed as having made significant progress in reducing child and maternal mortality rates. Credit: Jacey Fortin/IPSBy Nqabomzi BikitshaJOHANNESBURG, Jun 30 2014 (IPS) Every year, three million newborn babies and almost 6.6 million children under five die globally, but if the rest of the world looked towards the examples of two of Africa’s least-developed countries (LDCs), Rwanda and Ethiopia, they would perhaps be able to save these children. At the 2014 Partners’ Forum being held in Johannesburg, South Africa from Jun. 30 to Jul. 2 – hosted by the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH), the South African government and other partners - significant commitments in finance, service delivery and policy were announced that could put an end to these deaths. In total, there were 40 commitments from stakeholders, governments and the private sector who are committed to ending child and maternal mortality were revealed at the forum today. It was noted that while remarkable progress has been made in reducing maternal and child mortality rates globally, over the last two decades the reduction in the rates of newborn deaths has lagged behind considerably.Africa’s Fast-Track Countries That Have Made Significant Progress in Saving Women and Children ETHIOPIA •Reduced under-five mortality by 47 percent bet...
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