Encourage President Obama to Make Child Survival a Higher Priority

Dear Mr. President,

A largely invisible tragedy is happening now, over nine million children die yearly from preventable or treatable diseases such as diarrhea, pneumonia, and measles. Nearly four million of these deaths occur to newborns less than one month old. That is why I strongly urge you to prioritize maternal, newborn and child health programs which would strengthen American's role in saving the lives of children and mothers in the world's poorest countries by investing in low-cost, highly effective, lifesaving interventions such as vitamins, antibiotics and vaccines.
U.S. leadership has made an enormous contribution in saving children's lives over the past two decades. Unfortunately, funding for these programs has remained stagnant in recent years, while these life-saving programs in many countries have actually lost ground. If we can direct resources to these essential programs and make saving the lives of children a national priority, we could save millions of children each year through the extension of community-level health services in the developing world, where 99 percent of child deaths occur.

Now, more than ever, your support and commitment to child survival is needed; it's the right thing to do for families around the world and it's the smart thing to do for American leadership in the world. Please prioritize and increase support for maternal, newborn and child health programs and help ensure that the tools we have available are put to use improving the health of children and their families.