Millennium Villages Shown to Cut Childhood Mortality

 

A new report in the medical journal The Lancet shows a sharp decline in child mortality rates in 14 African villages taking part in the U.N.-backed Millennium Village Project.  Project officials say the findings are evidence that tackling several development goals at the same time using simple, low-cost solutions is vital for successful development.

In the Millennium Village of Sauri in western Kenya, about 80 babies out of 1,000 die within the first month after they are born.  That number may seem high, but six years ago, up to 140 babies out of 1,000 might not live past their first month. 

James Wariero is regional health systems advisor at Millennium Development Goals Center, East and Southern Africa.  He describes one of several initiatives that the Sauri community has taken to cut down on the babies' deaths. 

"We use a mobile telephony for a public health program that we started called 'Child Count Plus,' through which community health workers track mothers who are pregnant, and track the antenatal visits that they take, and know the expected date of delivery. That way, you try to prevent this problem of delays by ensuring that these mothers are referred early enough for delivery, and that they are accompanied sometimes by the community health workers," said Wariero. 

Sauri is one of 14 so-called "Millennium Villages" in 10 countries across Africa, a project that began in 2006 to show how communities could implement the United Nations' eight Millennium Development Goals.  These goals include: cutting extreme poverty and hunger in half; ensuring that children everywhere get free primary education; and reducing by two-thirds the under-five mortality rate.

 

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