UN Focuses on MDGs Relating to Health

By an IPS Correspondent Reprint | | Print |

United Nations, May 6 2013 (IPS) - As the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) move towards their deadline in less than 1000 days, the United Nations hosted an event focusing primarily on health related goals.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the planet’s social and economic inequalities must be addressed if women and children are to survive and thrive.  Although much progress has been made, a great deal still remains to be done, he added.

The event was co-chaired by the Permanent Representative of Bangladesh Ambassador Abdul Momen and the Permanent Representative of Norway Ambassador Geir Pedersen.

“There has been a major decline in child and maternal mortality in Bangladesh, which is on track to meet health MDGs on reducing by two-third under-five mortality rates and on improving maternal health by 2015”, said Dr. John Clemens, Executive Director of  the  International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR).

Clemens explained that Bangladesh is in what is called a positive deviance, which means  it has the same resources that everyone has, but it does better because of better methods to reach out to people that the ICDDR helped develop and implement.

“Worldwide, 800 women die every day from preventable causes related to pregnancy and child birth”, said Ambassador Momen.  He said the momentum offered by the last 1000 days should be continued to also fight the spread of  HIV/AIDS.

“We must urgently increase our efforts to build the future we want, and for that, we need to reduce inequalities,” Ban told delegates

He commended Bangladesh on its progress towards all health MDGs. “Thank you for being leaders in global health – leaders that can change the health of millions of people—and the future for all of us.”