Ending Preventable Child Deaths Possible With Financial, Political Commitments

Quartz: India is proof that health care miracles can save millions of children from death and disease
Mathuram Santosham, professor of international health and pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health, and co-chair of the ROTA Council

“…Four decades on, child mortality in India has been cut [from 4.5 million] to 1.2 million per year, eradication of diseases is no longer merely a theory. When political and economic will is in place, miracles do happen. … In 1975 the last case of smallpox was seen in South Asia and, in 1980, the WHO declared the disease eradicated. This declaration redefined what was possible and ignited a broader movement to save children from preventable disease. … Success breeds momentum. … I know that we still have a lot of hard work to do; too many children still suffer from preventable disease. However, we’ve successfully eradicated smallpox; polio and Guinea worm are both moribund and child mortality has been cut dramatically. Transformational change is possible. But it only happens when we first believe it and then back it up with financial, political, and human resources…” (6/17).

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