Updates

NEW YORK – The United Nations, in cooperation with world leaders, launched a new task force on maternal mortality in an effort to reduce the number of women who die in pregnancy and childbirth and achieve Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 5.

NEW YORK – Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg of Norway launched the first year Progress Report on the Global Campaign for Health at a press conference at the United Nation Headquarters in New York. The Report acknowledges achievements in AIDS treatment and the reduction of deaths due to malaria and measles. But, the Report also urges the international community to take action to accelerate progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals to reduce maternal and child deaths by 2015.

NEW YORK   The Presidents of Chile, Finland, and the United Republic of Tanzania put the world on alert that the 2015 targets to reduce maternal and child mortality will not be met without concerted global action. The warning came at a special event, Commitment to Progress for Mothers, Newborns and Children, co-hosted by the three countries. Hailed as a landmark on the road to meeting MDGs 5 and 4, the event was held on the same day as the UN Summit on the MDGs and was attended by more than 100 governments and international organizations.

YAOUNDE, Cameroon – African countries at the 58th Session of the World Health Organization Regional Committee for Africa conference have proposed setting up a Global Fund to advance the fight against maternal deaths and infant mortality.