As we near the final year marker for the Millennium Development Goals, The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, Countdown to 2015: Maternal, Newborn and Child Survival, and the Independent Expert Review Group have released reports on the current progress of health programming to reduce the burden of death and disease, the gaps in programming, financing and infrastructure, and opportunities to accelerate impact as we move towards the MDG deadline and the formation of the Sustainable Development Goals for 2030.
Every Newborn Action Plan
Newborn deaths and stillbirths are reducing at a slower rate than under-5 deaths and maternal deaths. Now is the time for the global health community to prioritize this unfinished agenda. The action plan sets out a vision of a world in which there are no preventable deaths of newborns or stillbirths, where every pregnancy is wanted, every birth celebrated, and women, babies and children survive, thrive and reach their full potential. Nearly 3 million lives could be saved each year if the actions in the plan are implemented and its goals and targets achieved.
Committing to Child Survival: A Promise Renewed – Progress Report 2014 (UNICEF)
This report looks at causes of death and coverage of key interventions for mother and newborn and highlights initiatives by governments, civil society and the private sector to accelerate progress on child survival. Neonatal deaths account for 44 per cent of all under-five deaths, so addressing neonatal mortality is a crucial component to ending preventable child deaths. This report not only discusses levels and trends in under-five and neonatal mortality since 1990, but it also analyzes key interventions for mothers and their newborns, highlighting a gap between contact with the health system and the quality of care received.
Tracking Financial Commitments to the Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health (The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health)
The report focuses on the commitments made to the Global Strategy for Women and Children’s Health that were specifically expressed in financial terms. It provides (i) an update on the estimated value of financial commitments, (ii) the progress made in their disbursement and implementation, (iii) an analysis of how these commitments have affected financing for reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health (RMNCH) more broadly, and (iv) an assessment of the degree to which financial commitments and overall RMNCH funding are aligned with the priorities spelled out in the Global Investment Framework for Women’s and Children’s Health (GIF), and the Global Health 2035 roadmap, published by The Lancet Commission on Investing in Health (CIH).
Fulfilling the Health Agenda for Women and Children: The 2014 Report (Countdown to 2015: Maternal, Newborn and Child Survival)
The 2014 Report includes an updated, detailed profile for each of the 75 Countdown countries, which together account for more than 95% of the global burden of maternal, newborn and child death. The report shows that progress has been impressive in some areas, but it also highlights the vast areas of unfinished business that must be prioritized in the post-2015 framework. The 2014 Report also provides an assessment of the state of the data to support evidence-based decisions in women’s and children’s health, and describes elements of the Countdown process that might inform ongoing efforts to hold the world to account for progress. It concludes by laying out concrete action steps that can be taken now to ensure continued progress for women and children in the years ahead.
Every Woman, Every Child: A Post-2015 Vision (iERG Report 2014)
The third report reviews progress towards: MDGs 4 and 5, the delivery of commitments made to the UN SG’s Global Strategy, COIA recommendations, and recommendations of the UN Commission on Life-Saving Commodities. For the first time it sets out the iERG’s vision for women’s and children’s health beyond 2015. It focuses on two issues – the health of women and children, and accountability. The report also provides an overview of the very first iERG’s country visits – Malawi and Peru – made by the iERG teams with the objective of understanding more about their progress towards meeting the CoIA recommendations. The iERG puts forth six new recommendations, in addition to those made in 2012 and 2013, and reviews how the recommendations made in the past two years have been received and responded to by partners.