Ending Preventable Child and Maternal Deaths within a Generation This article was originally published on the Health Policy Plus Viewpoints blog. This past August, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, ministers of health from 26 countries[1] took a major leap forward when they signed a ministerial declaration committing to end Preventable Maternal,...
Delegates from 10 countries will gather in Blantyre, Malawi, October 24–26 to discuss how to accelerate the adoption of life-saving care for premature babies, especially increasing the adoption of kangaroo mother care, nutrition, and thermal care interventions. The Government of Malawi and other partners are hosting the fourth meeting of the Kangaroo Mother Care Acceleration Partnership (KAP). Participants will come from six “priority countries” chosen because of their high rates of premature birth and strong political will to take action. For the past three years, newborn health experts from these countries have been sharing research, program experience, and innovations and built a professional network through meetings, site visits, and an online platform. Delegates from four additional countries whose kangaroo mother care acceleration plans have recently gained momentum, are also attending.
Part of the reason why poor Malawian mothers and their newborns have a better shot at survival than those in nearby regions is because of the increased focus on maternal wellbeing.
Despite unprecedented global improvement in the past two decades, more than 75 percent of the 87 developing countries included in the study are seeing inequalities in child survival getting worse.