Stop the non-sense: Save the Children

In a world that enjoys ever increasing wealth, it is often forgotten how many still live in poverty and how high child mortality remains. Fortunately according to a new report from the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), more children are now surviving beyond their 5th birthday. To be specific the number of deaths has fallen from 12.5m in 1990 to 8.8m in 2008, the lowest on record with dramatic falls in Latin America and the former Soviet Union while progress in Africa has been slower. The report notes big improvements in preventing malaria but much more needs to be done to treat the other 2 main causes of deaths: pneumonia and diarrhoea. In a world often obsessed by material wealth or consumed by big political battles about issues such abortion and climate change, it is unacceptable to lose sight of the most urgent issue, saving our children who die from diseases we know how to defeat. This will not be achieved only by offering yet more financial aid to poor nations. The key remains getting the governments of those countries most affected by child mortality to honestly provide decent basic public services to their citizens. This battle requires money and goodwill of different nations working together but this is the war that we should be fighting and winning.