Catalysts for Achieving the UN Goal for Maternal Health
The Nightingale Initiative for Global Health, or NIGH, is a grassroots, nurse-inspired movement to increase global public awareness about the priority of health and to empower nurses and concerned citizens to stand for a healthy world everywhere.
During our many encounters — large and small, worldwide — growing numbers of people see NIGH as catalytic and encouraging to the many needs identified during our explorations. Catalytic has been NIGH's role in the global celebration of the 2010 International Year of the Nurse / Florence Nightingale Centennial. As well, NIGH has taken a lead in framing 2010 as a perfect Year for nurses to become strong advocates for achieving all eight United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Three of these Goals are for health — reducing child and maternal mortality and HIV, AIDS, TB, Malaria and other diseases. Five of these Goals are health determinants — related to poverty, hunger, education, women's empowerment, environmental sustainability and global partnerships of all kinds.
Particularly, we have come — over the 18 months — to focus NIGH's work in support of UN MD Goal # 5 — “Improve Maternal Health" — addressing preventable death during pregnancy and childbirth.
Why Maternal Health?
Every year, between 350,000 and 500,000 — depending on who is counting — women and girls still die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. In the most marginalized areas, 72 percent of these deaths happen to women, girls and their unborn babies while they are alone — in impoverished conditions, with few, if any comforts such as a clean mattress or adequate shelter. Further, a mother's death directly impacts upon the families she leaves behind. Because she is often at the heart of providing family food, education, prevention from disease, sanitation and other environmental issues AND social cohesion of love and support, her death sets off a cascade of undesirable consequences for her children. They are often left alone, then, to feign for themselves in those even-harsher conditions.
As nurses are regularly familiar with human pain, sometimes in extreme, we can all too readily picture what these sufferings, injuries and deaths might really be like. Imagine, with us, if you will, how it would feel to be in hard birth contractions, bleeding uncontrollably and or overcome with infection and fever — with a baby large inside your womb — and no one there beside you?
As of summer 2010, the necessary multiple solutions to this critical problem are beginning to be discussed as global levels. These include an increased understanding to improve health care delivery — especially in support of nurses, midwives and community health care workers, better nutrition, clean water, and readily available necessary tools and medicines. Vast numbers of skilled health professionals and volunteers will be needed.
While many of us might not be directly involved, ALL of us can take action to share this story with our families, friends and neighbors. Global public awareness occurs only when every local neighborhood is aware. Global changes occur only when enough people want and call for those changes and sustain their high-profile concerns over a long time.
There are more than 15 million nurses worldwide. Individually, each nurse is already committed to promoting the health of people, wherever they can. But, only a few have used their voices to effectively impact health on global scale. If individual nurses can come together worldwide — with citizens who are also concerned about health — this effort could indeed become a powerful force for the health of humanity — particularly NOW for mothers at risk. To learn more about how you can share this ongoing story, please watch our Global News and Campaign News for further developments. Thank you for supporting this initiative !
Individual Commitments to Achieve a Healthy World
At the core of NIGH's Initiative is the Nightingale Declaration Campaign. This Campaign is being created, step by step, through individual signatures of commitment from around the world. As you sign the Nightingale Declaration, you are joining more than 22,000 people from 110 nations who have already signed — these include many midwives and other healthcare workers. This renews your commitment to what you can do and are already doing — both personally and professionally — to make a difference in the world at a challenging time. If you have signed already, please ask your friends, colleagues, neighbors and family to sign. ALL are welcome!
Those who sign the Nightingale Declaration believe the achievement of a healthy world to be the priority objective for action by ordinary citizens, by civil society organizations and by all governments, local and national.
Over the coming months, also watch our evolving Campaign News, featuring stories of how NIGH is working to accomplish these Goals. As you sign the Nightingale Declaration, you are joining a growing team of collaborating individuals and organizations — an emerging global collaboration on behalf of nurses and concerned citizens across the world — for “Mobilizing Public Opinion for the Health of Nations” at the United Nations and with UN Member States. We see this endeavour as an essential foundation to gather global consensus to "achieve a healthy world by 2020."
|
