PAHO joins Clinton Global Initiative
to save mothers' and children's lives
by the Pan American Health Organization

On September 26 the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) announced a new program of proven, low-cost interventions for maternal and child health that will benefit 750,000 pregnant women and 1.5 million children under 2 in 10 Latin American countries.

PAHO announced the five-year, $60.5 million program as part of the Clinton Global Initiative's (CGI) Water and Sanitation Mega-Commitment, at the 2008 annual meeting of CGI in New York City.

The PAHO program will provide micronutrient supplementation and deworming medicine to pregnant women in 10 countries, along with pesticide-treated bed nets in malaria-endemic areas.

It will also promote hygienic deliveries, delayed umbilical cord clamping, and cord and full-body antiseptic cleansing for newborns.

During early childhood, the program will provide iron and vitamin A supplementation as well as pesticide-treated nets in malaria-endemic areas. It will also promote early breastfeeding and appropriate complementary feeding of infants to prevent chronic malnutrition.

The program will raise public awareness and knowledge through large-scale communication and social mobilization campaigns that promote hand washing and basic sanitation, including proper storage of drinking water.

To implement the program, PAHO will work with ministries of health, municipalities, and other partners, including the U.N. Alliance for Nutrition and Development, to develop local action plans with an emphasis on multisectoral coordination, culturally appropriate communication, and social participation.

The program will be carried out in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Paraguay and Peru.

PAHO's program is one of 10 "Commitments to Action" by United Nations agencies announced at this year's CGI meeting.