News
Gates and AusAID fund project to save lives of babies and mothers
Friday, 3 April 2009Project partners, including key funders, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and AusAID, are joining forces with SPH in the newly formed AusAID Knowledge Hubs to fund a $4 million project aimed at reducing the millions of maternal and child deaths that occur globally each year.
The project, to be launched at a Brisbane meeting of all partners on 2-3 April 2009, is a cross-hub collaboration, led by University of Queensland (UQ’s) School of Population Health. It will focus on reducing maternal and child mortality in five Asia Pacific countries – India, Indonesia, Nepal, Papua New Guinea and the Philippines - where rates of preventable maternal, neonatal and child deaths are particularly high.
“Affordable and effective interventions to prevent these deaths already exist, but health systems are failing to reach the poor and marginalized populations in many countries,” said Dan Kraushaar, Integrated Health Solutions Development, Global Health Program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “This project aims to help governments develop realistic plans and budgets to scale up these interventions and reduce maternal and child mortality.”
The project team is working in close collaboration with researchers from in-country institutions as well as the global and country offices of development partners in the region, including UNICEF and WHO, to ensure that the study results are translated into real action in each country.
AusAID’s Principal Health Advisor, Jim Tulloch, said that the project is part of AusAID’s commitment to helping Australia’s neighbours in Asia and the Pacific reduce their rates of maternal and child mortality.
“This project will assist governments to prioritise interventions and decide where to allocate resources to achieve this aim,” said Dr. Tulloch.
Head of the School of Population Health and Project Director, Professor Alan Lopez, said the project is an important step in progressing the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) four and five which aim to significantly reduce maternal and neonatal mortality by 2015.
“Significant – and equitable – progress towards MDGs four and five requires not only a greater focus on maternal and child health among policy makers and donors but for resources to specifically target strategies that will have the greatest impact on health for all women and children, and particularly the poor and vulnerable,” said Professor Lopez.
Principal Investigator, UQ’s Eliana Jimenez believes the benefits of the project will be far-reaching.
“This project represents a valuable opportunity to help make a significant difference to the health of some of the world’s poorest mothers and children,” said Dr. Jimenez.
For more information contact:
Sonja Firth
Tel: +61 (0) 415 484718
s.firth@sph.uq.edu.au
Previous News
