New plan for newborns
Legendary musician Yvonne Chaka Chaka graced an international conference with songs befitting her status as a Unicef ambassador.
The songstress’ renditions were sang at a reception in Sandton hosted by civil society organisations during the announcement of an international initiative to protect babies and their mothers at birth.
The initiative, Every Newborn Action Plan is a platform to galvanise action by all nations to end preventable stillbirths, newborn and maternal deaths. Non-governmental organisation, Save the Children said a common thread should be knitted to reach and ensure the survival of every woman and every newborn child.
The organisation’s, Gugu Ndebele said while real progress had been made in saving women and children’s lives, the survival of newborn children had lagged behind compared to other health issues. “Globally, nearly three million babies do not survive the first month of life and close to 300 000 women die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and child birth,” she said.
The occasion was also an opportunity for civil society to bestow title of Champion of Health to the Minister of Health, Aaron Motswaledi for his commitment to the reduction of HIV/Aids and its effects, and also for his work on the action plan.
Echoing the plan’s objective, Motswaledi said no baby was born to die and no mother should die while giving birth. He urged civil society to redouble their efforts through partnerships with government.
Ndebele added that prevention of childbirth deaths could be achieved at minimal costs through appropriate hygiene practices such as the washing of hands before handling newborn babies.
Also speaking at the occasion was director of the World Health Organisation, Dr Margaret Chan who urged health practitioners to integrate their health systems, and create policies which were congruent with affordable services for poor communities to reduce infant mortality.
Details: savethechildren.org.za
