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Save the Children Praises Senate Action Today To Help Save Lives of Millions of Newborns and Young Children Globally
Westport, Conn. (February 13, 2008) — The global humanitarian organization Save the Children applauds today's action by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to approve legislation - known as the Global Child Survival Act - that would help save the lives of millions of newborns, babies and young children globally. The measure, initially introduced by Sens. Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Gordon Smith (R-OR), will now move to the Senate floor for a vote.
"We commend the steps taken today by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to approve legislation that will help prevent millions of needless young deaths worldwide," said Charles MacCormack, president and CEO of Save the Children. "The future looks a little brighter today for babies born in poor countries, where celebrating a 5th birthday is not commonplace, but rather a milestone."
"No parents should have to bear the pain of seeing their child die from illnesses like diarrhea, pneumonia and tetanus, all of which can be prevented or treated inexpensively," said former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, M.D., chair of Save the Children's child survival campaign, Survive to 5. "This Senate action means simple, cost-effective tools to save nearly six million children each year are within closer reach of families throughout the world. I applaud my former colleagues for their action on this issue."
Similar legislation introduced into the House by Rep. Chris Shays (R-CT) and Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN), will be discussed at a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee hearing March 13 on reducing global child mortality. The bipartisan legislation is backed by 100 members of Congress and has the support of dozens of non-governmental organizations and their members, including Save the Children, the ONE Campaign and World Vision.
"We now call for early action by the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. We look forward to working with Congress and the President to renew our country's commitment and leadership to saving children's lives by passing and signing this bill into law. This is not only the right thing to do for these children and families at risk, it is also the smart thing to for America's global leadership," said MacCormack.
Nearly 10 million children die every year from preventable and treatable causes. Forty percent of these deaths occur among babies in their first month of life. Experts agree that the vast majority of these lives could be saved through access to a package of simple low-cost services and practices like antibiotics to treat pneumonia, oral rehydration solution to treat diarrhea and vaccines to prevent life-threatening childhood diseases. Yet, these measures are not available to all mothers and children who need them.
The Global Child Survival Act would renew American leadership in saving up to six million young lives a year. Along with providing additional resources, the measure would also establish an inter-agency Child and Maternal Health Task Force to make sure every dollar goes where it's needed most. In addition, it would expand the Child Survival and Health Grants Program, set out guidelines and require an integrated strategy and annual progress reports from the president.
In a recent national poll conducted by the U.S. Coalition for Child Survival, almost all Americans, including both Democrats and Republicans, placed saving children's lives as a top priority for U.S. international assistance, and a large majority of Americans (84 percent) support increasing resources to reduce the top preventable deaths of young children.
Americans are putting action behind their support for this legislation. In the past year, members of the ONE Campaign have sent more than 200,000 letters to their members of Congress in support of the Global Child Survival Act.
