A sneak-peek inside the UN’s new strategy for women and children’s health

Sep 22nd, 2010 2:55 PM UTC
By Malaka Gharib

I just came back from the Digital Media Lounge’s keynote session, “Saving 16 Million Lives,” a panel discussion on the U.N.’s new, ground-breaking strategy on women and children’s health.

I have to say, it felt pretty special to get a sneak-peek of the new strategy just before U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced it to world leaders at the Summit. The maternal health experts on the panel were incredibly positive and excited about the new plan. I learned some interesting facts about women and children’s health and wanted to share five interesting tidbits and facts with you:

1. Breastfeeding within the first few hours can save a baby’s life by 10 percent.
2. The U.N.’s new strategy will use mobile technology to help educate people in developing countries about reproductive health.
3. An estimated 8 million children die a year before reaching their 5th birthday.
4. Local communities need to be at the center of health intervention planning.
5. More than 350,000 women die from preventable complications related to pregnancy and childbirth.

I know this is going to be a really huge change of pace, but I’m headed off to a taping of the Jimmy Fallon show — a bit of comic relief, you could say. But stay tuned — Kara will be live-tweeting President Obama’s MDG speech in a bit.

TAGS: ONE, September 2010 MDG Summit