With nearly 10 million children dying before their fifth birthday through preventable illnesses like measles and diarrhoea, World Vision UK is calling on the G8 to address the economic and financial crisis which are causing these deaths across the globe. A decade ago, world leaders laid out plans to cut the death rate among children under 5 by two thirds by 2015. Yet even now, with only six years left to reach that target, there are still parts of Africa that are not even a tenth of the way to reaching that goal.
With the leaders of the G8 meeting in Naples, Italy this month, World Vision is inviting you to join them in calling for the promises of 10 years ago to be kept and the necessary steps to tackle this health crisis upheld. However, with the current global economic crisis there is the distinct possibility that the G8 could limit the support for aid, which would hit the world’s poorest countries the hardest. Figures have already suggested that nearly 3 million additional children could die by 2015 as a result of the financial crisis and the rising cost of food.
The G8 members now have a vital role to play in protecting those most likely to be effected by the global financial crisis. To financially fulfill the promises made a decade ago, the G8 would need to prioritise just 2% of the current domestic economic stimulus packages on aid to support child health. This small percentage would have a real impact in preventing illness and death of millions of the world’s poorest children.
With the majority of deaths caused by diarrhea, pneumonia and malaria which can be prevented through access to basic antibiotics and immunisation, World Vision are asking you to reach out and send a message to Gordon Brown to invest in the global health of the world. In the last 7 years alone, the number of children dying under 5 years old has been reduced by 2 million thanks to the increase in aid for basic health services by 70%. It is time for the world leaders to act now and make a stand to make the promises of 10 years ago come true.
