Partnerships key to ending preventable child deaths

"I'm encouraged by the focus on children's health alongside other pressing global issues" at the U.N. General Assembly meeting last week, Dagfinn Hoybraten, vice president of the Norwegian Parliament and chair of the GAVI Alliance Board, writes in the Huffington Post's "Impact" blog, adding, "These discussions come in the wake of UNICEF's latest report on declines in child mortality around the world." He provides some statistics from the report and notes, "In June, the governments of the United States, India, and Ethiopia, along with UNICEF, launched a renewed global commitment to child survival at a meeting in Washington."

"Since then, more than 110 governments, almost 300 faith leaders and 174 civil society organizations have pledged to renew their efforts to reduce child mortality," Hoybraten writes, adding, "I continued to be inspired by new partnerships and reinvigorated partnerships forged out of that meeting to ensure that children everywhere can lead healthy and productive lives." He states, "Partnerships are key to ending preventable child deaths and the GAVI Alliance (Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization) operates under the belief that working together as an alliance ensures greater results and more lives saved than any of our partners can achieve alone." He discusses GAVI's partnership with UNICEF and concludes, "By working together to save lives and improve the health of all children no matter where they live, we can create a world where equity is within our reach" (9/28).