Civil societies raise investments to better maternal health
By IANSFriday, September 24, 2010
NEW DELHI - Taking a step towards improving maternal and child health, global civil society groups announced a scale-up of their investments in developing nations.
The scale-up is a part of the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals (MDG), which aim towards achieving better health conditions for women by 2015.
CARE International Confederation, a voluntary organisation working for the welfare of women and children worldwide, committed $1.8 billion for maternal and child health programmes for the developing nations, including India.
Helene D. Gayle, the CARE USA president, said: “Death of women in pregnancy and child birth is unacceptable. We know what could be done to save mother and children and we are committed to doing it.”
“The funding will benefit states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh where maternal mortality rates are poor,” she said.
India is striving hard to achieve the MDG targets, especially on maternity and child health.
“The programme will reach about 16 million women and children. The funds are definitely going to help us approach the MDG goals,” said Basanta Kar, the maternal health expert of CARE India, affiliated to CARE international.
The UNMDG summit concluded Sep 22 in New York, US.
