RPM Plus: What We Do: Child Survival

In 2003, a series of five landmark articles published in the international journal The Lancet raised global awareness of the unfinished child survival agenda in developing nations.

Of the 11 million children dying worldwide each year, perhaps as many as 6 million children's lives could be saved each year by scaling up and targeting known and proven public health interventions.

Diseases such as malaria, diarrheal diseases, acute respiratory infections, measles, and malnutrition, in addition to HIV/AIDS, contribute substantially to infant and child mortality.

In response to the high mortality caused by these main childhood illnesses, the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) strategy, developed jointly by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), has been implemented in numerous countries to offer program managers and service providers an integrated approach for effective management of childhood illness.

In their efforts to reduce childhood mortality, child survival programs recognize the importance of identifying and treating sick children early and appropriately in the community, to prevent the deterioration of cases and thereby reduce mortality.

Despite considerable efforts to make essential medicines and other commodities available, significant gaps and management problems persist at various levels of the health system in many developing countries.

The availability, appropriate management, and rational use of medicines are critical to the successful implementation of the IC strategy and other child health interventions.

Because the majority of cases are not treated in health facilities, but rather in the home or by private medicine providers, efforts should focus on ensuring that correct treatment is available near the home and that families seek, obtain, and appropriately use essential medicines, whether from public or private sources.