Health Campaign 08
Lucky to be alive - How poverty robs women and children of health and life.
In this section of the website, you will find information about two of the key Millennium Development Goals on child and maternal health.
Micah Challenge has been campaigning for Health using 'Message in a Bottle', an easy and non-threatening action idea.
Click here to download a document outlining how to run your own Message in a Bottle campaign. You can also contact our office to order copies of the health flyer and Message in a Bottle.
Click here to read a media release about Message in a Bottle
Click here to view a photo of Bob McMullan, Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance and Duncan Kerr, Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs, receiving over 300 messages from women who attended Colour conference in Sydney in March. The messages on child and maternal health focus on Goals 4 and 5 of the MDGs. The bottles were presented at a Micah Challenge lobbying visit in Parliament House, Canberra.
Why are these goals important?
How does poverty affect the health of mums and Children?
What can we do to bring hope?
To download a document with all information from the Health Campaign, click here.
Why Are Goals 4 and 5 so important?
Goals 4 and 5 on child and maternal health are vital if we are to halve global poverty.
Goal 4 - reduce child mortality by 2/3
Goal 5 - reduce by 2/3 the number of women dying in childbirth.
A BBC News article quoting a British parliamentary committee says "of all the Millennium Development Goals set by the United Nations, the aim of reducing maternal mortality has seen least progress".
Click here to read the full article.
Many analysts confirm the key role that women play in improving the health, education and economic productivity of their families and communities, IF they have the opportunity. Kofi Annan , the former General Secretary of the United Nations put it this way, "There is no tool for development more effective than the empowerment of women."
Yet it is women and children who are the poorest and most vulnerable people in the world:
Around 70% of people living on less than US$1 a day are women
Women own only 1% of the world's assets
Every minute around the world, a woman dies in childbirth and 20 are injured or disabled.
Every minute, 40 teenage girls become pregnant
Every 90 seconds, a woman is raped
Every minute four babies die because they are not adequately breastfed
A quarter of all child deaths (under 5 years) are due to easily preventable diseases - diarrhoea and malaria
Every minute, four infants under 2 years die because they have not been vaccinated against diseases like measles and tetanus
Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5 aim to change these shocking statistics.
(Statistics from UNICEF, WHO and World Bank)
How does poverty affect the health of mothers and children?
Poverty and poor health stalk millions of women and children affecting every area of life. A story from Sierra Leone illustrates the myriad connections:
Sierra Leone is the poorest country on earth. It ranks 177th out of 177 on the UN Human Development Index. One in 4 children dies before their 5th birthday. Women have a one in six chance of dying in childbirth.
On Christmas Eve 2007, Salumatu Sankoh was born by candlelight in a clinic at Kroo Bay, a slum outside the capital Freetown. The clinic has one rusty delivery bed and a cot with three wheels. There is no electricity, no sterilizer and no doctor. Sierra Leone has only 10 surgeons and around 350 doctors for a population of over 5 million people. Nearly all medical staff fled the country during the 11 year civil war, which ended five years ago.
If Salamatu or her mother had birth complications it would have been nearly impossible to get treatment. The nearest hospital, four kilometres away charges US$39 admission, a huge sum for slum dwellers like Salamatu's mother. Three quarters of Sierra Leone people earn less than US$2 a day, slum families earn as little as US$1.
Already Salamatu has overcome challenges but the home she returns to will bring more threats to her health and life. Kroo Bay is a slum of 6,000 people in the middle of rubbish and mud. There is just one latrine so human waste goes into the river which is used for washing clothes. Only 39% of people in Sierra Leone have adequate sanitation. The risk of serious illness from dirty water, rats, mosquitoes and the piles of rubbish means Salamatu will get ill many times and will rarely feel strong. When the floods come through Kroo Bay in the wet season, dirty water clogs drains and lanes. Diarrhoea comes with the floods and is a common childhood killer among the poor.
The rains also bring mosquitoes carrying malaria. Malaria is a killer but it can be easily prevented with bed nets that cost 15 cents each or treatable with drugs. Families need to be educated about prevention and have access to cheap drugs.
The natural protection against disease provided by mothers' breastmilk could save lives but only 4% of babies in Sierra Leone are exclusively breastfed to six months (which is the time recommended by UNICEF). Mothers may be unwell and find it hard to produce enough milk. There is also the pressure from baby food companies to use milk formula even though it is expensive and almost impossible to keep sterile.
The citizens of Sierra Leone know that life is brutal and short. It is the reason families tend to have six or seven children each (compared with the UK average of 1.7). The pressure on women to give birth is immense. Families must be large enough to gather firewood, collect water, herd goats and tend crops. And so the pitiful cycle of desperate poverty, death in childbirth and infant mortality continues.
The solutions are often simple but need action at all levels. A new health clinic with better equipment would help Salamatu and her mother. The government could provide free health care for the poorest citizens, which would save the lives of 7,000 children a year but they need help from international groups like the IMF and the World Bank to make health care free.
National action is also needed to clear the rivers and drains so that homes are not flooded, to improve rubbish disposal and provide clean water and sanitation. The government of Sierra Leone has promised to target corruption so that scare funds reach poor communities like Kroo Bay.
For Salamatu, these long-term goals may help her when she is a teenager, but for now, it is chance that keeps her alive when so many other little children die.
For the full article on Salamatu Sanko, click here.
For all latest statistics on child and maternal health in Sierra Leone, click here.
To view a diagram that shows some of the factors which threaten the survival of babies like Salalmatu, click here. It is easy to see how all the factors are interlinked.
Also note that breastfeeding is an important aspect of child and maternal health and education about breastfeeding is a simple way to combat the issue. Click here to read an article on the importance of breastfeeding.
What can we do to bring hope?
We can act to bring hope. As individuals there is lots we can do and we can also see the importance of acting together. As a church, our actions can be multiplied in significance. We can also see the importance of action at a government level. Some issues to do with poverty eg free education for all, overcoming corruption, proper sewerage systems or protection for workers in factories need action by national leaders and churches can lead the way in standing up for integrity and justice.
On an individual level we can:
1. contribute funds to projects which provide immediate improvement - things like clean water, midwife training or breastfeeding education.
2. intercede for communities and countries, praying specifically and consistently
3. sponsor an individual child so that s/he can receive an education and health care
4. talk with our friends about the issues
5. give our time and expertise to an overseas aid agency by volunteering here or overseas
6. find out about poverty issues - the causes, the current situation, biblical teaching on justice
7. live our lives more simply so that our attitudes to money, career, success are transformed by Jesus
8. speak out on poverty and injustice issues eg sign the Micah Call, speak to your local MP about poverty issues.
As a church community we can:
1. pray together in crisis situations, pray for countries in the news, pray especially for places and people we know
2. hold events to raise community awareness eg be part of existing fairs or join with other churches to hold an event
3. have church projects to raise money to build a school or a clinic or provide training
4. link with another community eg in the inner city, in an indigenous community, in a migrant area, in a poor community overseas
5. speak out - invite your local MP to a special morning tea or event, pray for them, encourage them and remind them about the importance of caring for the poor.
6. take part in the Offering of Letters (see the Micah Challenge website)
7. have preaching and bible teaching series on God's heart for the poor (there are lots of ideas on the Micah Challenge website)
8. encourage generosity
9. take small steps to live more justly - have fair trade tea and coffee at all your events, encourage ethical investment of church funds
10. dowload the Micah Challenge Health Flyer featuring information on maternal and child health and three simple actions you can take to support Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5. Click here to download the flyer.
As citizens we can ask our leaders to:
1. keep our commitments to the global poor made in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
2. act with compassion in dealing with the mentally ill, the unemployed, refugees and indigenous groups
3. commit 0.7% of our national income (GNI) to overseas aid. This is the level needed to meet the MDGs
4. encourage truthfulness, integrity and service in all government dealings with other nations
5. stand up for fair trade rules, protection of the resources of poor nations and protection of the environment of poor nations
How can we influence our leaders?
There is power in numbers - the more people who sign the Micah Call, the more influence we can hope to have
Pray for God's power and wisdom to prevail at times of crisis or important meetings. Pray against spirits of violence, selfishness and greed which seek to rob and destroy
Build a relationship with your local and national politicians by writing a letter once or twice year about justice issues.
Take a friend with you to visit an MP. This sounds scary but it is empowering to take the step. See our website for all sorts of advice on how to do it.
Come to Voices for Justice in October 08. Click here for more information on Voices for Justice.