GAC Considers “Progress for Children”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 11, 2007
WASHINGTON—According to a new report from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), dramatic improvements have been made in reducing the number of deaths among children under five years of age worldwide. According to the report, in 2006, that number dropped below 10 million for the first time in history.
The document, titled "Progress for Children: A World Fit for Children Statistical Review," is the five-year report from the 2002 UN Special Session on Children. While it had some good news to report, the conclusions also show how far the world has yet to go in improving the lives of children.
"The decline in deaths of children under age five from mostly preventable diseases is an exciting development," remarked Leila Nimatallah, Policy Director at Global Action for Children, a nonpartisan coalition advocating for children in the developing world. "However, we remain very concerned that, despite the availability of interventions to prevent the transmission of the HIV virus during pregnancy and childbirth, just a fraction of the pregnant women in need of these services are receiving them."
According to the report, in 2005, only 11 percent of the more than 2 million HIV-positive pregnant women worldwide received antiretroviral prophylaxis to prevent mother-to-child transmission. The vast majority of HIV-infected children - an estimated 90 percent - are thought to have contracted the virus as newborns.
"Only about 15 percent of the children in need of ARVs are receiving them," Nimatallah continued. "At only half the coverage adults receive, this is simply unacceptable. As a global community, we must do better for the world’s children."
In the recently-released "Platform for the World’s Children," Global Action for Children urged policymakers and the next U.S. President to keep the promise of universal access to prevention, care, and treatment by providing at least US $50 billion by 2013 to the fight against HIV/AIDS and accelerating youth HIV prevention, with a focus on ensuring access to comprehensive sex education, empowering girls, and promoting gender equality.
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Global Action for Children is a nonpartisan, results-oriented coalition dedicated to advocating for orphans and vulnerable children in the developing world. GAC seeks to increase the level of funding from the governments of wealthy countries to orphans and other vulnerable children in some of the world’s poorest countries.
Click here to view the full report from UNICEF.
Click here to read Global Action for Children’s "Platform for the World’s Children."
