The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative has the power to create systems change, inform professional practice and enrich personal values and ethics and strengthen commitment to improve women’s and children’s health and the well being of families. It enables mothers to achieve their personal goals regarding infant feeding.
The humanitarian crisis in Yemen is worsening by the day. More than 22 million Yemenis – that’s three-quarters of the population – need humanitarian assistance and protection. More than 11 million of them are children. The conflict has made Yemen a living hell for its children.
Violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Kasaï region has caused massive displacement and prevented hundreds of thousands of families from planting crops. After months living in the bush in rudimentary conditions, thousands of children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition and need life-saving care. In response, UNICEF is supporting health centres to treat malnourished children.
UNICEF and partners are working hard to achieve complete polio eradication in Afghanistan – which currently has the highest number of polio cases in the world.
In Chad, 27% of child deaths are caused by malaria, making it the leading cause of death among children under five. Malaria is also a high risk for pregnant women and can result in premature births and stillbirths.
Vaccines protect children against disease and death, saving up to three million lives a year. Despite the benefits, millions of young children around the world are missing out. UNICEF envisions a world where no child dies from a preventable cause and all children reach their full potential. That is why UNICEF is on the ground in 190 countries, immunizing millions of children every year.
Research from AllerGen was just released that looks at the relationship between a mom’s stress and a baby’s immune health. The research found that when mothers experienced distress, both during and after pregnancy, their infants were three times as likely to have reduced immune function (lower levels of an important immune antibody in the infant’s gut). The research also found that breastfeeding can help protect babies from the effects of maternal stress on their immune system.
Babies in the Democratic Republic of the Congo can wait months for HIV results, but new technology can give a result the same day, speeding up treatment, and saving lives.
Although the world has made dramatic progress in reducing global rates of under-five child mortality, newborn deaths have declined at a slower pace. Find out what UNICEF is doing to help children survive.
This Valentine’s Day, let’s stand together and spread the love – with gifts that can save lives. You can honour a special someone by giving the gifts of survival, shelter and hope to children in need.
