Op-Ed: Honoring mothers worldwide

Op-Ed

The following Op-Ed by Senator Chris Dodd and Bill Frist appeared in Politico on Monday, May 10, 2010

On Mother's Day, Americans recognize the amazing women whose dedication has shaped our families and lives.

But let's not forget to honor mothers worldwide. They nurture the future by giving children a basic security that no military could ever match.

In some parts of the world, however, motherhood is far more dangerous than war.

Consider Afghanistan, where women have a one in eight lifetime risk of dying from pregnancy or childbirth-related causes.

Afghan mothers also suffer given the dismal odds their children face. One-quarter of all babies born there never reach their fifth birthday. Any given week, more than 6,000 Afghan children may die -- mostly from easily preventable causes, like pneumonia, diarrhea and birth complications.

This weekly children's death toll equals all Afghan civilian deaths from armed conflict in the last three years - even as the Taliban attacks reached new highs.

And these statistics may be more related than you'd think.

The Afghan government's inability to provide basic health services for expectant mothers and children has undermined its credibility and boosted support for the Taliban, according to the U.S. national intelligence director.

Because extremists prey on the discontent of marginalized communities, countries with higher child and maternal mortality rates may be more vulnerable to political upheaval. That's a point Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has made. But it's not the only compelling reason to address child and maternal deaths.

Children and pregnant women are dying needlessly. Americans know it's wrong to let these deaths continue when we know how to prevent them.

The tools to stop this are proven and often very low-cost. Using them, we could prevent an estimated two-thirds of 8.8 million annual child deaths and three-quarters of 343,000 maternal deaths.

Some poor countries have already made astounding progress -- thanks to a combination of foreign aid, national will and sustainable strategies for getting basic health care to poor mothers and their children.

The most effective solutions are not high tech. Exclusive breastfeeding, micro-nutrients, antibiotics, anti-malarials, vaccines, oral-rehydration therapy and ready-to-eat foods could save millions of children each year. Skilled attendance at births, as well as basic prenatal and postnatal care could prevent most maternal deaths.

The countries with the highest number of child and maternal deaths also have the largest health care provider shortages, according to the new report, "State of the World's Mothers 2010" from Save the Children. Yet, the report also shows that we can address this without having to confront the extreme challenge of producing large numbers of additional doctors to meet the estimated global shortfall of 4.3 million health care professionals.

Community health workers, with just months of training, can deliver key interventions that save children's lives. Trained midwives can make childbirth far safer.

Very poor countries, like Bangladesh and Nepal, are now leaders in reducing child deaths, using targeted aid to build ranks of frontline female health care workers. These women not only have the low-cost tools to save lives, they are welcomed by communities where cultural barriers keep many women from seeing male health care providers.

Even the world's most dangerous place to be a mother, Afghanistan, has made some progress through limited initiatives to train midwives. Such programs deserve our support, because the payoff is a more stable, secure and humane world for all.

The good news is that momentum for global action is running high.

At both the G-8 summit in June and the Millennium Development Goals summit in September, the hosts Canada and the United Nations plan to push world leaders to make new commitments on maternal and child health. The Obama administration has expressed support.

All Americans can help more mothers and children live by supporting increased funding from Congress and pending legislation -- the Global Child Survival Act in the Senate, and the Newborn, Child and Mother Survival Act in the House.

By coordinating new efforts to fund and promote maternal, newborn and child health, Congress, the president and other world leaders can save the lives of millions of moms and kids.

That's a Mother's Day gift that will bloom for years to come.

Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), author of the Global Child Survival Act, serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Former Republican Senate majority leader Bill Frist, a doctor, is chairman of Save the Children's Survive to 5 Campaign.

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