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First Lady agitates for safe motherhood, newborn health
2008-01-30 09:32:22
By Correspondent Austin Beyadi
The State of the World`s Children Report 2008, which was launched at the national level in Dar es salaam yesterday, has ranked Tanzania number 34 on the list of countries with the highest under-five mortality rate.
Out of the 46 African countries analyzed in the report, only Cape Verde, Eritrea and Seychelles are on track to achieving Millennium Development Goal number 4 of reducing child mortality. However, these are countries with small populations.
Speaking at the launch of the report, First Lady Salma Kikwete said that statistically 27,000 children die every day and that most of them die from diseases that could be prevented.
Tanzania fares somewhat better than its neighbours, with Uganda ranked at number 23 and Kenya at number 31, she noted.
She said that the global situation for young child survival was still gloomy and that there was need to recognise that young children`s survival was intrinsically interlinked to safe motherhood and newborn health.
``Today`s launch of the 2008 State of the Children Report is an opportunity to once again remind ourselves at different levels on the commitment made on ensuring maternal and young child survival,`` she said.
She said that the report aims at initiating a dialogue on what we should all do to improve child survival.
Alluding to findings of the report, which shows the gains made at the global level on reducing child mortality, the First Lady said that though commendable, a lot needs to be done to quicken the pace of progress towards the achievement of the MDG in sub-Saharan Africa.
However, United Nations Children`s Fund (UNICEF) Country Representative Heimo Laakkonen said that though Tanzania might not be on track to achieve MDG 4 yet, but it is certainly not among the countries that stagnated.
He said that for the first time in 2006 the world recorded less than 10million child deaths a year and that a global review showed remarkable progress in reducing child mortality since 1990.
He said that child mortality was a sensitive indicator of a country`s development and telling evidence of its priorities and values.
He further said that investing in the health of children and their mothers was not only a human right imperative but it was also a sound economic decision and one of the surest ways for a country to set its course towards a better future.
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