Child survival experts have challenged the world to wake up to the unprecedented opportunity to save the lives of 30 million under 5s over the next decade. Richard Horton, Editor of The Lancet, says that in 2003 it was very clear that the child had dropped off the global agenda for health. In the next two years a great deal has changed, but there is still great complacency, and genuine accountability remains.
High-ranking government ministers from around the world, many major non-governmental organizations, numerous influential Paediatricians and medical scientists have committed themselves to addressing the child health problem in a most positive way. They will all meet at two-yearly intervals until 2015, to assess achievements. The aim is to reach the Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5 by that time. Read more about it on this page.
Horton refers to the Bellagio Study Group on Child Survival, published in The Lancet.