Action Against Hunger / Action contre la Faim Canada is delighted by the Canadian Government’s announcement today of a global summit that will focus on saving the lives of women and children.
Taking place in Toronto from May 28-30, 2014, the “Saving Every Woman Every Child: Within Arm’s Reach,” Summit will address the future of Child and Maternal Health collaborations in Canada and around the world.
As Prime Minister Stephen Harper stated in today’s announcement, “No mother should have to choose between herself and her baby because she doesn’t have the healthcare or food she needs to raise a healthy child.”
At Action Against Hunger, we couldn’t agree more. Unfortunately, undernutrition continues to play a key role in over half of all child deaths in developing countries.
In fact, malnutrition contributes to 45% of all child deaths, or 3.1 million children dying each year. Meanwhile, the proportion of children suffering from severe acute malnutrition but who are not able to access treatment for hunger remains stubbornly high at an estimated 90%.
In a world where solutions for treatment and prevention exist, these staggering facts are deeply concerning. Proven, cost-effective solutions to both treat and prevent acute malnutrition are available. Action Against Hunger programs put these solutions into action around the world every day
To make further progress, we encourage the Canadian government to tackle acute malnutrition and wasting – the severe forms of malnutrition which can lead to illness, reduced cognitive and physical function, and death. The issue of malnutrition and its subsequent effects cannot be fully addressed without tackling acute malnutrition.
Action Against Hunger believes the 2014 “Saving Every Woman Every Child” Summit poses an excellent moment for the Canadian government to build on its past leadership in nutrition and move the world closer to eliminating child deaths from hunger.