Global Health News

JANUARY 2013

CHILD SURVIVAL UPDATE – SPECIAL EDITION

Call to Action: Child Survival and Development for Every Child in India

	Source: UNICEF India/ 2012/ Prashanth Vishwanathan

India is still among the top four countries that account for 50 percent of global under-5 mortality. In this context, the government of India co-convened the June 2012 Global Call to Action on child survival along with the governments of Ethiopia and the United States of America. At this high-level forum organized in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Honorable Minister for Health and Family Welfare Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad assured that India shall remain in the forefront of the global war against child mortality and morbidity.

From February 7 to February 9, 2013, the Call to Action - Child Survival Summit will be held in Chennai, India, to enable the Government of India to launch a strategic roadmap for accelerating child survival and development in the near future and beyond 2015.

The expected outcomes from this summit are for ministers from central and state governments and leaders from the private sector, civil society, media, multilateral organizations, academia, and funding agencies to arrive at a set of agreed actions, get commitments, promote accountability, and engage high burden states to determine follow-up mechanisms to achieve India's goals for child survival and development.

• Learn more on the Summit website: http://childsurvivalsummit.in/index.html.

Saving Lives at Birth: A Grand Challenge for Development

Source: Gates Foundation

USAID, the Government of Norway, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Grand Challenges Canada, and the U.K. Government (Department for International Development) invite global problem solvers to answer their third call for innovative prevention and treatment approaches to dramatically reduce maternal and newborn deaths and stillbirths in poor, hard-to-reach communities around the time of childbirth.

Specifically, the Challenge seeks to identify and develop transformative approaches that integrate new science and technology, better service delivery models, and improved "demand side" innovations that empower pregnant women and their families to practice healthy behaviors and be aware of and access health care during pregnancy, childbirth, and the early postnatal period, especially the first two days after birth.

Learn more and answer their call for innovative ideas:

• Download a copy of the RFA [PDF, 532KB].
• Submit your application no later than March 28, 2013, 2:00 p.m. EST.
• Send any questions on the request for application to: grandchallenge2013@usaid.gov by February 8, 2013, at 2:00 p.m. EST.
• Visit our website to meet our community of innovators.

Better Cord Care Saves Babies' Lives

	Source: JSI

On January 30, 2013, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. in the Horizon Ballroom of the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C., there will be a panel discussion entitled Better Cord Care Saves Babies' Lives: Country Perspectives on Chlorhexidine Programming, co-sponsored by John Snow International (JSI) and the Chlorhexidine Working Group. This panel discussion will be moderated by USAID and will have presenters from PATH, Save the Children, and JSI. The conversation will be from country perspectives, specifically those of Nepal, Nigeria, and Madagascar, focusing on experiences and issues in implementation and scale-up of chlorhexidine programs.

• Interested in attending? Space is limited, so please RSVP now to CHX@jsi.com or, for more information, visit the JSI website.
• If you can't make the meeting and are a Twitter enthusiast interested in this topic, please join USAID's Bureau for Global Health on Twitter, @USAIDGH, this Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. EST. @USAIDGH will be live tweeting from the event. Join the conversation by following @USAIDGH on Twitter or search for the hashtag #CHX2013.

African Leadership for Child Survival – A Promise Renewed

To maintain the momentum around the Child Survival Call to Action from June 2012, the Government of Ethiopia, and former Minister of Health Tedros Adhanom, whose leadership raised Ethiopia’s profile in child survival on the continent, convened the African Leadership for Child Survival – A Promise Renewed Meeting from January 16 to January 18, 2013, in Addis Ababa, the seat of the African Union. Over 50 ministers of health and experts from across Africa came together with peers and global experts to ensure child survival is at the forefront of the social development agendas across the continent and to renew the focus of African leaders to head their own country's efforts and sustain the gains made over the last two decades.

• Watch the video of USAID Administrator Dr. Shah addressing attendees of the African Leadership on Child Survival Meeting.
• Read the related USAID IMPACTblog posts:
• A United Africa Under a Child Survival Revolution – Posted by Dr. Peter Salama, UNICEF Representative to Ethiopia
• Under Five Child Survival Under Microscope at Summit – Posted by Jennifer James, Mom Bloggers for Social Good
• Ethiopia Hosts African Leaders to Accelerate Gains in Child Survival – Posted by Dennis Weller, Mission Director to Ethiopia
• Ethiopia Shares Best Practice for Maternal and Child Survival – Posted by Nicole Schiegg, Senior Advisor at USAID
• Stay up-to-date on the U.S. Government action to end preventable child death.
• Learn more about the efforts around Committing to Child Survival: A Promise Renewed.

View past editions of GH E-News.

If you have questions or comments about GH E-News, please contact Nicole Schiegg at nschiegg@usaid.gov.

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Photo sources for top banner left to right:James Pursey/EGPAF, Marcy Erskine/IFRC, Jameel Ahmad/JSI/PAIMAN