11. June 2010
The continuing invisibility of women and children
an article by Richard Horton
It seems to make no sense to say that women's and children's health are invisible. The world has UNICEF and WHO, a Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, and many non-governmental organisations that advocate vigorously on behalf of women and children. Millennium Development Goals 4 (child survival) and 5 (maternal and reproductive health) are receiving greater political attention. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is expanding its contributions to maternal and child health. The US Government's ambitious Global Health Initiative is dedicating US0 million to nutrition and maternal, newborn, and child health in 2011. And recent data have revealed great progress in efforts to reduce child and maternal mortality. Yet over two decades since the global Safe Motherhood Initiative was launched and exactly 20 years after the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child came into force, women and children are still invisible. Here are ten reasons why.
Full article on:
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2810%2960902-6/fulltext (requires free Lancet registration)
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