Why We Do It

 

Why focus on infant and maternal health in Latin America?

• Each year 12 million children are born in Latin America. Many of these children and their mothers lack access to basic, effective health care.

• Gaps in basic care cause devastating effects, including hundreds of thousands of newborn and maternal deaths each year.

• 26 out of 1000 babies die each year, with more than half of these deaths occurring in the first month of life.

• Serious health complications from low birth weight, birth asphyxia, infections, respiratory difficulties and a range of neurological disabilities affect hundreds of thousands more.

• In Latin America, neonatal mortality is 3 times higher than in Western industrialized nations and in the Dominican Republic, maternal mortality is 10 times higher than in the U.S.

• Poor maternal health leads to a high rate of low birth weight newborns, who suffer more serious health complications.

• Improving newborn and maternal health have been targeted by the World Health Organization and United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5, which seek to “reduce child mortality” and “improve maternal health.” www.un.org/millenniumgoals

• Challenges such as a lack of sufficient resources and effective training result in weak health systems.

• A sensible, cost-effective, targeted program can yield enormous benefits to newborn and maternal health.

• Our work to improve the health and quality of lives of women and infants supports the United Nations 2015 Millennium Development goals targeting a reduction of child and maternal mortality.