Celebrating Progress in Maternal and Child Health
On Monday, July 22nds the Global Health Council (GHC), American Academy of Pediatrics, PATH, RESULTS, Save the Children, UNICEF USA and World Vision, hosted a Maternal Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) event at the Rayburn Gold House of Representatives Building. The event was themed around a 5th Birthday party carnival celebrating the historic milestones and progress made in child survival and nutrition. More importantly, the event served as an opportunity for GHC and partners to reach and educate congressional staff on the importance of U.S. investment in maternal and newborn health.
The 127 attendees spanned 35 different Democrat and Republican congressional offices, including Representative Young Kim (R) and Betty McCollum (D) who were speakers. Participants also included the UNICEF USA President and CEO, Michael J. Nyenhuis, who provided opening and closing remarks, USAID staff including Carmen Coles, USAID Acting Deputy Assistance Administrator for Global Health, who gave a toast, House Foreign Affairs Committee, the department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and other U.S. government agencies as well as MNCH advocates.
Participants were given the opportunity to network and play various games including Jeopardy, bowling, bean bag toss, ring toss, and ping pong. Every game provided key MNCH information on maternal and newborn health including what investments have made the biggest impact, the nutrition required to help children reach their 5th birthday, the most effective interventions, how social determinants of health impact MNCH, and the most cost-effective ways to defeat diarrhea in children.
Also at the event, USAID launched its Preventing Child and Maternal Deaths : 2024 Annual Report to Congress. This report provides information on the impact of USAID’s global programing in reducing maternal and child mortality rates. It also includes projections and other data on child and maternal mortality and stories of those impacted by USAID MNCH investments, among other information.
GHC is extremely proud of the success of this event and thanks its hosting partners for their hard work and commitment throughout the planning and launch of the event. Through its MNCH Working Group, GHC will continue to work closely with other advocates, Congress, USAID, and other U.S. government agencies to continue to accelerate MNCH globally. There is still a lot of work to be done in MNCH. It is critical that the global health community takes the time to track and share positive outcomes, challenges and lessons learned along the way.