FAMILY PLANNING: HELPS CHILDREN SURVIVE AND THRIVE

By Anne Zeiser

President and CEO, Azure Media

For most of us, a new baby coming into the family is ample reason for joy and celebration. But imagine a world where a new pregnancy means a Sophie’s Choice dilemma, having to choose which beloved child to feed, clothe, or provide medicine to.  

For 220 million women worldwide – who want, but do not have access to contraception         – that’s their biggest fear. Another child can put them at a “life-or-death” tipping point in which one or more of their children will die from lack of nutrition or medicine. This is not hyperbole, but a daily fact of life for millions of people worldwide.

Some 7.6 million children under the age of five died needlessly in 2010 from malnutrition and other preventable afflictions such as malaria, polio and diarrhea, reports Cathy Calvin, CEO of the United Nations Foundation. Providing young children with simple, proven interventions – food, vitamins, vaccines, mosquito nets, oral rehydration therapy, and antibiotics – dramatically increases their chances of survival. And because these crucial commodities are limited in areas riddled by drought, poverty, sub-par medical treatment, or corrupt governments, the lack of access to family planning can be a death sentence for many children and their mothers. Under such meager conditions, the women and girls giving birth also face astoundingly high mortality rates.

Ensuring that there are enough resources for a given population, especially in the hardest hit areas of sub Saharan Africa and South Asia, means those children who live to the critical age of five have a greater chance of ongoing access to nutrition and health care, not to mention education and employment. Family planning means children can first survive, and then can thrive.

The old adage, “Mothers are like glue. Even when you can’t see them, they’re holding the family together” is apropos. It speaks to how universally women are the heart of family and community health, education, and often economics. Empowering women – in both the developing and developed world – with the opportunity to choose sustainability is morally right, as well as environmentally and economically sound. 

To give more women worldwide that opportunity, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the UK government (UK Aid) are hosting “The London Summit on Family Planning” on July 11, 2012.  Building on the work of the “UN Foundation's Universal Access Project” and “United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA),” the summit will assemble and secure commitments from governments, civil society, and the private-sector to give 120 million women in developing countries access to voluntary, lifesaving family planning information and services by 2020. Their case for family planning hits both economic and humanitarian notes:

“Contraceptives are one of the best investments a country can make in its future. Each U.S. dollar spent on family planning can save governments up to 6 dollars on health, housing, water, and other public services. And yet, more than 200 million women and girls in developing countries who want to delay, space or avoid becoming pregnant are not using effective methods of contraception, resulting in over 75 million unintended pregnancies every year. This puts women and girls at serious risk of death or disability during pregnancy and childbirth...If the need for family planning were met, maternal mortality could be reduced by one-third and infant mortality by up to 20 percent. Not only does family planning save lives, but it builds healthier families, strengthens communities and stimulates economic growth.”

To get involved, you can pledge your support for women’s opportunity:

“I believe that every girl and woman deserves

the opportunity to determine her own future.”

And, to participate in the summit, watch live or follow the Family Planning discussion on Twitter at #FPChat about the #FPSummit with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, DFID, Nike, USAID, White Ribbon Alliance, etc. on Wednesday, July 11, from 8:45 a.m.-12:00 p.m. ET.

Anne Zeiser worked with The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on PBS’s groundbreaking 2005 global health and child survival transmedia and impact project, Rx for Survival: A Global Health Challenge, with partners NPR, Time, Penguin books, CARE, Save The Children, UNICEF, The Global Health Council, GAVI, American Academy of Pediatrics, Girls Scouts of America, Rotary International, and more.