Act on Mother’s Day to help stop 5.4 million children from dying

5 May 2011 – This Mother’s Day Kiwi mums can celebrate that New Zealand is the 6th best country in the world to be a mother, according to a Save the Children report released this week.

For the vast majority of the world’s mothers, however, conditions are much worse and millions of children face a life that may be unfairly cut short.

Save the Children believes the facts speak for themselves:

• 1.7 million children die in their first day of life.
• Three million children die within one week.
• Four million children die within their first 28 days.
• 8.8 million children die before their fifth birthday.
‘Statistics suggest that almost 90 per cent of under-5s deaths are either preventable or treatable,’ says Liz Gibbs, CEO of Save the Children New Zealand

‘This is because malaria, diarrhoea and pneumonia account for 41 per cent of all deaths under-5. All together, this means that more than 5.4 million children’s lives could be saved through low cost child survival services and practices.’

‘Our 75 years of field experience has taught us that, in most cases, the quality of children’s lives depends on the health, security and well-being of mothers.’

‘Community Health Workers hold the keys to saving many children’s lives. In poor and remote communities, which have limited access to hospitals and clinics, they are often the difference between life and death.’

Save the Children works with governments around the world to strengthen their health systems by training health workers, advising health managers, building health facilities, providing equipment and transport, and improving financial management.

‘We are asking Kiwi mothers to raise awareness for our www.do1thing.org.nz campaign in order to give every mother in the world a better chance of seeing their children survive and thrive,’ Ms Gibbs says.

This Mother’s Day log on to www.do1thing.org.nz

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