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Every Child Deserves a 5th Birthday. The U.S. Government’s Contribution to A Promise Renewed.

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Stories of Hope

  1. Health workers often must travel miles to isolated villages and hard-to-reach, underserved rural communities to see patients. USAID has helped expand access to iCCM of malaria, diarrhea, and pneumonia in 12 countries – reaching 1.6 million children under the age of 5 in 2010. Programs focus on training and equipping front-line health workers at the community level to correctly diagnose and treat children with high-impact treatment interventions such as antibiotics and oral rehydration and zinc. Photo Source: Atta Ullah, Courtesy of Photoshare
  2. In Ethiopia, a front-line community health program has helped transform the nation's health outlook. Not only do the front-line workers provide lifesaving care, they also serve as the community's source of nutrition, water, sanitation, and health training. Today, thanks in part to this program led by the Ethiopian Government, under-5 mortality in the country has fallen by almost 30 percent. Photo Source: Rebecca Holmes, Courtesy of Photoshare
  3. Global action to combat malaria has saved an estimated 1.1 million lives in sub-Saharan Africa over the past decade. This year alone, an average of 485 children a day are saved from this lethal disease. Eleven of the President's Malaria Initiative focus countries have seen reductions in childhood mortality rates, ranging from 16 to 50 percent. The timing of these reductions corresponds to a dramatic scale-up of malaria prevention and treatment interventions in these countries, suggesting malaria control played a major role in the mortality reductions. Photo Source: Maggie Hallahan, Courtesy of WHO
  4. A decade ago, the country's health system was shattered, leading to widespread prevalence of malnutrition, infectious disease, and high infant and maternal mortality rates. Today, an Afghan child has a 90 percent chance of living to her 5th birthday. USAID supports the delivery of essential health services and pharmaceutical supplies to approximately 10 million people in 13 of the country's 34 provinces. USAID also trains community health workers so care is available in remote communities. On average, health care workers serve more than 870,000 clients per month at health facilities. Photo Source: Emily J. Phillips, Courtesy of Photoshare
  5. For the past year, a group of donors (DFID, AusAID, the Gates Foundation, and USAID) has worked in partnership to ensure those most hard to reach have access to quality, affordable reproductive and maternal health supplies. The Alliance for Reproductive, Maternal, and Newborn Health has worked closely with governments and other partners to improve access in the 10 focus countries: Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Tanzania, and Uganda. Together, these countries account for about 68 percent of unmet need for family planning worldwide, 54 percent of all maternal deaths, and 56 percent of all neonatal mortality. Photo Source: Center for Communication Programs, Courtesy of Photoshare
  6. The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) Alliance prevented more than 3 million premature deaths and served a key role in increasing the global vaccination rate by 10 percentage points. To date, GAVI has funded vaccines against diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, hepatitis B, pneumonia, measles, and yellow fever. GAVI and its partners are now preparing to finance the introduction of two new vaccines in the poorest countries. A great power of vaccines is to bring health equality to all those who receive them. Photo Source: Khaled Sadiq, Courtesy of Photoshare
  7. In the past year and a half, United Nations and academic experts have published new estimates that indicate global and regional declines in maternal mortality since 1990, with a number of countries on target to achieve Millennium Development Goal 5. There has been a 34 percent decline in global maternal mortality, 53 percent in Asia, and 26 percent in Africa – the two regions that have often been thought to be intractable. Key drivers for success include increases in female education and improvement in coverage in health care interventions, including family planning, deliveries by a skilled birth attendant, emergency obstetric care for complications, and antenatal and postpartum care. Photo Source: Arturo Sanabria, Courtesy of Photoshare
  8. In Bangladesh, maternal mortality dropped by 40 percent between 2001 and 2010. Many factors saved these women's lives. The Government of Bangladesh upgraded district and subdistrict health facilities. As a result, the use of skilled birth attendants and availability of comprehensive emergency obstetric care increased. Total fertility rate declined by 22 percent due to the successful family planning program, reducing exposure to high-risk pregnancies. Expanded availability and cell phone use improved communications between families and service providers, especially in the case of obstetric emergencies. Expanded and improved roads facilitated transport to health facilities. In addition, more women entering the child-bearing years were educated. Photo Source: Cassandra Mickish/CCP, Courtesy of Photoshare
  9. Simple, cost-effective devices and training for newborn resuscitation have been introduced in 30 countries and will be scaled up in at least four countries. More than 18,400 health providers have been trained so far. The alliance – made up of Laerdal, NIH, the American Pediatric Association, and USAID – supports countries in expanding resuscitation services as part of a broader package of essential newborn care, which includes training and affordable, high-quality resuscitation equipment. Photo Source: Anil Gulati, Courtesy of Photoshare
  10. Undernutrition during the critical 1,000 days from pregnancy to age 2 can cause irreversible stunting and mental impairment. Nutrition is at the forefront of two of the U.S. Administration's top development priorities: the Global Health Initiative and Feed the Future. Now more than ever, we know what works to improve nutrition for women and children. We have support from host governments, donors, civil society, and the private sector through the Scaling Up Nutrition movement. In 2010, USAID-supported programs provided 29 million infants and children with vitamin A supplementation in six countries. Photo Source: Lauren Goodsmith, Courtesy of Photoshare
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