CHILDREN & MOTHERS: Save the Children released its “State of the World's Mothers 2008: Closing the Child Survival Gap” report Tuesday. Sweden ranked best for mothers while Niger ranked worst. In a separate study, Save the Children found that 200 million children go without basic health care, resulting in 10 million deaths each year.

Mothers and children in developing nations face greater hardships than those in developed nations.

Mothers Face Unique Issues

Save the Children is a nonprofit organization based in the United States. Each year it reviews data from around the world to find out what life is like for mothers and their children. It looks at factors such as the following:

• number of years women live
• cleanliness of drinking water
• amount of time, if any, women get for maternity leave
• women's involvement in national politics
• likelihood women are to die in childbirth
• number of women using birth control
• education levels for women
• number of children who live beyond the age of five

Save the Children’s annual report ranked 146 countries, from best places to be a mother to worst. The United States ranked 27th. Here’s a comparison between Sweden, the country that ranked best for mothers, and Niger, the country that ranked worst:

Poor Children Die Unnecessarily

In a separate study, Save the Children also ranked health care for children in 55 developing nations. Some nations, such as Afghanistan and Iraq, were not included in the study since there wasn’t enough information about them.

According to the report, more than 200 million children under five years old go without basic health care. Each day 26,000 children die from preventable and treatable illnesses like diarrhea and pneumonia, or die in childbirth if their mothers cannot afford skilled care.

At least 6 million children might have lived had they received basic medical attention, such as immunizations and antibiotics.

Copyright © 2009 Informify

Sources

"Reports: Sweden ranks world's best place for mothers " (Xinhua, 5/7/08)

"Report Says Basic Medical Care Could Save Lives of 6 Million Children a Year " (Voice of America, 5/6/08)

"Philippines, Peru lauded for child health progress " (Reuters, 5/6/08)

"State of the World's Mothers 2008: Closing the Child Survival Gap " (Save the Children, 5/6/08)

"The best and worst places to be a mother or child: survey " (CBCnews, 5/6/08)

Question for Readers:

Do you think Americans take for granted our access to basic health care like vaccinations and antibiotics?