Posted 9 June 2010 by Maura O'Malley
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation plans to invest $1.5bn
over the next five years to support maternal and child health, family planning
and nutrition programmes in developing countries.
A large portion of the new funding will support programmes
in India, Ethiopia and other countries that have relatively high rates of
maternal and child mortality. It is providing initial grants totalling $94m in
India and $60m in Ethiopia, with additional grants to be announced over the
coming year.
The grants will fund a variety of projects including projects
to promote immediate exclusive breastfeeding and skin-to-skin contact to keep
newborn babies warm and more cost effective treatment for postpartum
haemorrhage.
Co-chair of the foundation Melinda Gates made the
announcement at the Women deliver conference in Washington on 7 June.
Melinda said: ‘Every year, millions of newborns die within a
matter of days or weeks, and hundreds of thousands of women die in childbirth.
The death toll is so huge and has persisted for so long, it’s easy to think
we’re powerless to do much about it. The truth is, we can prevent most of these
deaths – and at a stunningly low cost – if we take action now.’
