[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 164 (Thursday, November 5, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11196-S11197]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   GLOBAL CHILD SURVIVAL ACT OF 2009

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I rise before you today to speak about a 
population that is all too often forgotten in the poorest corners of 
our world; women and children. A woman's pregnancy should be a joyous 
time in her life. Sadly, in many developing countries countless women 
suffer from pregnancy-related injuries, infections, diseases, and 
disabilities often with lifelong consequences. Too often their children 
die or struggle from a lack of basic childhood medical care.
  Over the years I have traveled to some of the poorest corners of the 
world, from Congo to Haiti. I have seen those who struggle to find food 
and water, battle AIDS, TB and malaria, and fight every day to eke out 
a living against great odds.
  Yet one of the most fundamental struggles I have witnessed is that of 
a mother and child surviving pregnancy and childbirth. It is 
heartbreaking to hear stories of women who have been in labor for days 
before being able to reach a hospital, of those who die giving birth 
because of a lack of basic medical facilities, of the thousands of 
children who could be saved with low cost vitamin A supplements, or of 
the thousands of children left as orphans.
  What could be a more fundamental need in our world than making sure 
women and children survive childbirth?
  Reducing child mortality and improving maternal health make up two of 
the eight United Nations Millennium Development Goals. While progress 
has been made in many countries, an effort to reduce under-five 
mortality by two-thirds and improve maternal mortality to achieve MDG 
targets has made the least progress than any of the other MDG's.
  That is why Senators Dodd, Corker and I introduced the Global Child 
Survival Act of 2009.
  This legislation is about strengthening the U.S. Government's role in 
saving the lives of children and mothers in poor countries. The act 
would require the U.S. Government to develop a strategy for supporting 
the improvement of newborns, children, and mothers.
  Across the developing world, mothers are dying giving birth from 
complications such as hemorrhaging, sepsis, hypertensive disorders, and 
obstructed labor. Each year, more than half a million women die from 
causes related to pregnancy and childbirth.
  The sad reality is that most of these complications have easy and 
preventable solutions. In fact, if women had access to basic maternal 
health services, an estimated 80 percent of maternal deaths could be 
prevented.
  Key interventions, such as adequate nutrition, antenatal care, 
skilled attendance at birth and access to emergency obstetric care when 
necessary,

[[Page S11197]]

are already improving the health outcomes for mothers and infants 
around the world.
  But we can do more. We must do more.
  Accordingly, the Global Child Survival Act would create an 
interagency task force on child and maternal health. Through building 
local capacity and self-sufficiency, partnering with nongovernmental 
organizations and participation by local communities we can better 
coordinate activities directed at achieving maternal and child health 
goals.
  The act builds on existing interventions that support counseling for 
new mothers. Research has shown that most of the 4 million newborn 
babies that die every year could be saved by training parents in simple 
care practices and by training health workers to help newborns with 
complications.
  Factors such as malnutrition, unsafe drinking water, and inadequate 
access to vaccines contribute greatly to global child mortality. Three 
quarters of newborn deaths take place in the first 7 days of life; most 
of these deaths are also preventable. Effective low-cost tools--such as 
vaccines and antibiotics--could save the lives of 6 million of these 
children.
  The reproductive risks young girls in developing countries face are 
linked to lower levels of schooling and to underlying factors of 
poverty, poor nutrition, and reduced access to health care. That is why 
the Global Child Survival Act also supports activities to promote 
scholarships for secondary education. Educating girls and young women 
is one of the most powerful ways of breaking the poverty trap and 
creating a supportive environment for maternal and newborn health.
  I am pleased that many partners in this fight are showing an interest 
in moving forward in this fight. In May, President Obama announced a 
Global Health Initiative proposing $63 billion over 6 years, 
specifically emphasizing maternal and child health as a piece of the 
initiative.
  President Obama also called attention to maternal and child mortality 
during his recent travel to Africa. After visiting a USAID funded 
hospital in Accra, Ghana the President stated, ``Part of the reason 
this is so important is that throughout Africa, the rate of both infant 
mortality but also maternal mortality is still far too high.''
  I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting the Global Child 
Survival Act to help show our commitment to improving the lives of 
women and children around the world. It is an important step, along 
with such basics as clean water and sanitation, food security, and 
education, in improving the lives of the world's poor.

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