Health

Every 6 seconds a child dies from a preventable illness or disease. That is the statistic we’re racing to change at Save the Children.

In recent years the world has made remarkable progress in improving the survival rates of children. But, the lottery of birthplace means that for millions of children the odds of surviving past the age of five years is weighted against them. Children in low-income countries are about 18 times more likely to die before the age of five than children in high-income countries.

We’re doing whatever it takes to save children and protect their health. Our health programs around the world have a special focus on Maternal, Newborn and Reproductive Health (MNRH); Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health; Child Health; and Maternal, Infant, and Young Child Nutrition (MIYCN).

How our programs work to save lives

From pre-pregnancy through to early childhood, working with partner organisations and governments, our health care teams provide mothers and children living in the world’s poorest and most fragile communities with access to a range of healthcare services:

• We train and equip health workers to provide easily accessible, life-saving care
• Help adolescents and women have access to sexual reproductive health care to improve their health and their future child’s health.
• Improve maternal health care, ensuring women have access to health care services before, during and after their pregnancies.
• Help mothers give their children adequate food and protect them from infectious diseases during the first 1,000 days after birth
• Respond during emergencies to provide a range of healthcare services to mothers and young children
• We work with governments to make sure all their citizens have equal access to healthcare. We collaborate with national and local governments, grassroots organizations and others to strengthen national health systems, improving infrastructure and human resources for health, to ensure they are within reach of every last child
• We advocate for increased public spending on health, so people can access affordable healthcare whenever they need it and wherever they are. We also work with other NGOs to lobby the UN to make sure that no one in the world has to pay too much for their healthcare.