Vector Issue 12 - 2011

educe child mortality
ONEStep
university of
melbourne
on a long path
towards much
www.ghn.amsa.org.au
4 MDG • growth monitored
The story of what is today global or international
child health had its beginnings in the aftermath
of the violence of World War II. Much as the War
abolished and redefined borders, the boundaries
of responsibility for the world’s children were
to progressively expand. The United Nations
International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF)
was created in 1946 by the United Nations General
Assembly to provide relief to children affected by
World War II; and this heralded an approach that
called for international collaboration to improve the
health of children.
The 4th Millennium Development Goal, to reduce the
rate of child deaths (expressed as deaths per 1000 live
births) in each country by 2/3 of what it was in 1990 by
2015, is a continuation of approaches adopted over the
last three decades. The idea is that most child deaths
are preventable. Despite advancement in the science
of medicine, pharmaceuticals and technology, the
major killers of children are still pneumonia, malaria,
malnutrition, diarrhoeal diseases, and complications
of birth or infections of the newborn. In the 1980s,
UNICEF introduced the GOBI initiative, focussing on
trying to ensure every child has their basic needs of
medical care.
more
GOBI initiative(198o):
• oral rehydration solution
access if diarrhoeal
disease occurs
• breast feeding
• immunisation
This had remarkable results, and emphasised
an important lesson: what needs to be done is
already known, and the majority of child deaths
can be averted by focussing on a few simple,
highly effective interventions, and doing them
well.
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vector FEB 2011