"Greater political leadership coupled with increased financial resources are needed at international and national levels if we are going to meet these goals. Investment in maternal, newborn and child health is not only a priority for saving lives, but it is also critical to advancing other goals related to human welfare, equity, and poverty reduction."
The United Nations' first Special Session on Children in 2002 represented a tremendous opportunity for governments, organizations, and citizens of the world to renew their commitment to improve the status of children worldwide. Within countries, sectorwide approaches to development are making it harder to mobilize spending for children’s health and to safeguard resources specifically for their health.
Yet spending national funds on child health is the best way to strengthen a national health system in an equitable and affordable way. It develops capacity within the entire health system that leads to overall improvements in health for whole populations.
Moreover, ensuring effective delivery of health services influences public perception of a government’s effectiveness and legitimacy. When governments implement policies that establish and maintain effective health systems, they help to stabilize society and ultimately impact security and economic development. It takes advocates in multiple agencies to spread these messages and to support policies that will mobilize national resources.
MSH helps countries create a coordinating framework for child survival programs through a process that engages, organizes, and focuses support from multiple players. At the national level, MSH works with Ministries of Health (MOHs) and other key stakeholders to develop and implement appropriate child health policies that would:
- Make skilled care during childbirth more available
- Promote community-based integrated management of childhood illness (IMCI)
- Incorporate management of neonatal illness into IMCI
- Improve the supply of quality medicines for treating childhood illnesses
- Strengthen decentralized health systems to enhance primary health care