Why ‘Child Health Now’
campaign?
Today 24,000 children under five will die of
preventablecauses such as diarrhea, malaria and pneumonia. We're facing a silentemergency, one
that's bigger than any natural disaster the world has ever seen.
But World
Vision has found out that a vast majority of thesedeaths are preventable if governments spent more
on simple healthinterventions, recommitted themselves to reducing child and infant mortalityand
targeted health care at the most vulnerable. That’s why the situationdemands a campaign of this
magnitude.
What is the
‘Child Health Now’Campaign?
The ‘Child Health Now’
campaign is World Vision’s firstglobal campaign focused on a single issue: reducing the preventable
deaths ofchildren under five. In the two minutes it will take you to read this text,more than 30
children under the age of five will die.
World
Vision, through thiscampaign will calls on governments to bolster family and community
healthinterventions, some of which cost as little as Rs.15 (USD 30 cents.)
Life-saving health measures forchildren are as simple as:
· Providing basic vaccinations,
oral rehydrationsachets for children with diarrhoea, and vitamin and micronutrient supplementsto
boost immunity and growth
· Exclusive breastfeed children
in the first sixmonths and prevent childhood malnutrition by feeding infants from six monthswith
nutritious foods from cheap locally available sources
· Improving access to basic
community levelmaternal, neonatal and infant
careservices
However, World Vision found that despite the solutions beingwell known governments
in the developed and underdeveloped world were failingchildren, especially the poor and
marginalised.
World Vision’s Child Health now Campaign aims to do
justthat…talk to governments…change policies…advocate for implementation ofexisting health
programmes and ultimately save the lives of millions ofchildren and give them back their most basic
right…the right to live!
What’s World
Vision going to do inIndia through the ‘Child Health Now’ campaign?
India is one of the countries that is highly unlikely tomeet the Millennium
Development Goals 4 and 5. In World Vision’s work withchildren in drought affected Rajasthan to the
flood affected Karnataka, we seethese invisible citizens of our nation on the verge of extreme
vulnerabilitybeing exposed to hunger, under nutrition and water borne diseases. But we’ve also seen through our work withover 5000 poor
communities across the country that progress is possible.
Therefore, WorldVision India will urge
the Indian Government to -
· Focus National Rural Health
Mission on 0-3
year olds,pregnant & lactating mothers.
· Strengthen all Public Health
Systems with
adequateinvestments in improving infrastructure, human resources, and medical
supplies.
· Universalise equitable Integrated
Child Development Scheme (ICDS) – Anganwadis, 1:40<6years. Nutrition for below 3.
· Mandatory civil Society engagement
in Public
Healthincluding ICDS programme
· Raise budgetary allocation
on health to 3%
of GDP by the year
2012.
