Ending Preventable Deaths

Sinkhani Angela in Chisemphere Malawi

The World Health Organization has huge and worthy goals with a plan to end all preventable deaths of women and children by 2030.

Flavia Bustreo, WHO Assistant Director-General for Women's and Children's Health, recently said, "As we approach the end of 2015, it is clear that progress in child and maternal survival is one of the great success stories of international development."  Child and maternal deaths have been halved since 1990.  In 1990, one in 10 children died before the age of five.  Today that number has dropped to one in 20.

We know who the real heroes are in bringing about a significant part of this change: the health workers who have worked tirelessly to weigh and monitor babies, teach moms, and raise health standards wherever they live.