JOHANNESBURG, 13 March 2008 (PlusNews) - Mothers and children in South Africa are dying in alarming numbers. Far from being on track to meet the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of reducing child mortality by two-thirds, the country is among only a dozen worldwide where child deaths are rising.
In 2000, South Africa committed to eight MDGs set by the UN, which included reducing child and maternal mortality and reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015.
And yet, every year 20,000 babies are stillborn and another 22,000 die within the first month of their lives. In total, at least 75,000 children die before their fifth birthday, while 1,600 mothers die due to pregnancy or childbirth complications, according to a report on infant, child and maternal mortality, released at a conference on perinatal care in Johannesburg this week.
For the whole story please visit http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=77274
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2 comments:
Wow. I realy never had a realistic picture of what things are like for the birth families of the children we dream about. This is sobering, but good to know about. It makes it hard to see where the best place to start to help is since there are so many areas of need!
So sorry we missed your call last week. Things have been hectic my first week back but we'll call tomorrow or this weekend! Thinking of you!
Love,
Renee, Geert, Maryna and Keller
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