US Coalition for Child Survival


www.child-survival.org
US COALITION FOR CHILD SURVIVAL - BIWEEKLY UPDATE May 13, 2009

1. PUBLIC POLICY AND RELATED INFORMATION: Congress & the White House: President Obama's "Global Health Initiative" and FY 2010 Budget On Tuesday, May 5, the White House issued a statement announcing the Administration's request of $63 billion over six years to begin shaping a more comprehensive global health strategy. The new "Global Health Initiative" will extend efforts to fight specific diseases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria, while also doing "more to improve health systems around the world, focus our efforts on child and maternal health, and ensure that best practices drive the funding for these programs." For more information and related articles - The White House - Statement by the President on Global Health Initiative - Federal News Service - White House Briefing, May 5, 2009 - New York Times - Obama Seeks a Global Health Plan Broader Than Bush's AIDS Effort - Inter Press Service - Obama's Global Health Plan Disappoints Activists - Associated Press - Obama administration seeks $63B for world health - U.S. Fund for UNICEF - Letter to President Obama on the Announcement of the Global Health Initiative (pdf) The White House also released the full budget request for Fiscal Year 2010, which includes a proposed increase in the International Affairs budget to $53.9 billion. Maternal and child health programs would receive $523.5 million in funding through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), about $28 million more than in FY 2009. Appropriations Subcommittee leaders in Congress will work on their suballocations, also known as 302(b) allocations, over the next few weeks. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Berman issued a statement last week in support of a strong International Affairs budget. Congress: Child Survival Legislation H.R.1410 - the Newborn, Child, and Mother Survival Act - has 56 cosponsors as of May 12. The bill calls for a clear, coordinated strategy to save the lives of newborns, children and mothers in developing countries. To learn more, visit the Coalition's detailed information page. House Resolution 278 - the Global Security Priorities Resolution - calls for a reduction in the number and accessibility of nuclear weapons and measures to prevent proliferation. Part of the savings from the plan would be directed toward programs that support global child survival and universal education and fight hunger. The resolution has been referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. For more information, visit the U.S. Fund for UNICEF's website. Defeating a Global Killer: The Need for Action on Diarrheal Disease Diarrheal disease is the second biggest killer of children under five in developing countries, claiming the lives of more than 4,000 children each day. On May 12, PATH and WaterAid released new reports highlighting this neglected issue, low-cost solutions that are proven effective, and the need for increased political will to save lives. Full reports and related articles: - PATH - Diarrheal Disease: Solutions to Defeat a Global Killer - WaterAid - Fatal neglect: How health systems are failing to comprehensively address child mortality - Inter Press Service - Killer Diarrheal Diseases Eclipsed on Donor Agendas - ONE Blog - Defeating a Global Killer - PLoS Medicine - Setting Research Priorities To Reduce Global Mortality from Childhood Diarrhoea by 2015 - Huffington Post - The Possibility of a Pandemic and the Certainty of Diseases That Kill

2. CHILD HEALTH NEWS & RESOURCES: New Reports & Updated Sites • Brookings Institution - A Case Study of Aid Effectiveness in Ethiopia: Analysis of the Health Sector Aid Architecture • Save the Children - State of the World's Mothers 2009: Investing in the Early Years • Global Alliance to Prevent Prematurity and Stillbirth (GAPPS) (The Coalition's Executive Director, Andrew Barrer, and several other Coalition members recently attended a week-long GAPPS conference on prematurity and stillbirth in Seattle. The GAPPS website will be continually updated, including online videos of many keynote presentations from the conference.) Foreign Assistance and Funding Issues • Seattle Times - Seattle philanthropy at center of world malaria fight • Al Jazeera - Global recession to shift aid focus • The Guardian - World Bank admits most health aid fails • Lancet - A global fund for the health MDGs? (subscription only) • Associated Press - Study of Gates Foundation shows global influence • Wall Street Journal - Don't Forget About Foreign Aid • ONE Blog - Happy Mother's Day! • Greenwich Time - A real gift to moms: helping kids to survive Nutrition and Food Security • Voice of America - Millions Threatened With Hunger and Disease in Horn of Africa • UNICEF - Global aid agencies call for greater investment in life-saving vitamins and minerals • FFI, GAIN, MI, UNICEF, USAID, World Bank, WHO - Investing in the future: A united call to action on vitamin and mineral deficiencies Water & Sanitation and Environmental Issues • BBC News - Children sanitation alert issued • IRIN News - Afghanistan: Thousands of schools lack drinking water, sanitation • ONE Blog - Life Is Water Pneumonia • Baltimore Sun - The right fight - U.S. lags in tackling a top killer of children; Hopkins expert wants to change that • New York Times - The Killer No One Suspects • ONE Blog - World Pneumonia Day? Malaria • Voice of America - Researchers Advance Toward Effective Malaria Vaccine • Huffington Post - Remembering the Burden of Malaria on Mother's Day Neglected Tropical Diseases • Lancet - Rescuing the bottom billion through control of neglected tropical diseases • New York Times - 4 Million Kids in 4 Days Newborn and Infant Health • Reuters AlertNet - New growth measures help fight infant mortality • UNICEF - Improving care for mothers and newborns in Uzbekistan • US Coalition for Child Survival - Newborn Deaths in Developing Countries: A Serious Problem with Real Solutions (pdf) Maternal Health • IRIN News - Nepal: Maternal health goal way off, say experts • The Guardian - Is a change of attitude needed to reduce death in childbirth? • Huffington Post - Mothers Day Every Day For Healthier Families, Communities and Nations • Voice of America - New Report Says Sub-Saharan Africa is Worst Place to Be Mother

3. CHILD HEALTH RELATED EVENTS: New Listings • May 14, 2009 - PATH - Advances in Child Survival (pdf) • May 18, 2009 - Save the Children - Modernizing Foreign Assistance: Insights from the Field (pdf) Upcoming Events • May 23-25, 2009 - Christian Connections for Int'l Health - CCIH 2009 Annual Conference - Technologies and Health: A Faith-Based Perspective • May 26-30, 2009 - Global Health Council - 36th Annual International Conference on Global Health: New Technologies + Proven Strategies = Healthy Communities • June 10, 2009 - USAID/BASICS - Immunization: Rapid Scale-up and Institutionalization • June 19, 2009 - MIDEGO - Annual MDG Strategic Conference • June 20-24, 2009 - RESULTS Educational Fund - The 2009 RESULTS/RESULTS Educational Fund Int'l Conference: Empowering People to End Poverty • July 6-9, 2009 - InterAction - InterAction Forum 2009 • July 8, 2009 - USAID/BASICS - Healthy Timing and Spacing of Pregnancy: Operationalization through Integration

4. COALITION SPOTLIGHT: *CARE* CARE is one of the world's leading humanitarian organizations fighting global poverty. Last year, the organization's programs improved the lives of more than 65 million people in 71 countries around the world. The scope of the CARE's mission has evolved and expanded considerably since it was formed in 1945 to send CARE Packages to survivors of WWII in Europe and Asia. Today, CARE helps poor communities create lasting solutions to their most threatening problems. Not only does CARE feed the hungry; they also help tackle underlying causes of poverty so that people can become self-sufficient. Recognizing that women and children suffer disproportionately from poverty, CARE places special emphasis on working with women to create permanent social change. Women are at the heart of CARE's community-based efforts to improve basic education, prevent the spread of HIV, increase access to clean water and sanitation, expand economic opportunity and protect natural resources. CARE also delivers emergency aid to survivors of war or natural disasters, and helps people rebuild their lives after the crisis has passed. To learn more, visit www.care.org.
About the US Coalition for Child Survival The US Coalition for Child Survival brings together more than 45 organizations to educate and advocate for the survival and well-being of children around the world. This message is a biweekly update from the Coalition and is intended for informational purposes only. If you do not regularly receive this update, but would like to, simply send an email to info@usccs.org with "SUBSCRIBE" in the subject line. To unsubscribe at any time, just send an email to info@usccs.org with "UNSUBSCRIBE" in the subject line.