NEW UN CAMPAIGN AIMS TO SAVE OVER 5 MILLION CHILDREN FROM PNEUMONIA DEATHS

NEW UN CAMPAIGN AIMS TO SAVE OVER 5 MILLION CHILDREN FROM PNEUMONIA DEATHS
New York, Nov 1 2009 10:10PM
The United Nations Children's Fund (<"http://www.unicef.org/">UNICEF) and World Health Organization (<"http://www.who.int/en/">WHO) launched a new action plan on Monday to prevent up to 5.3 million children from dying of pneumonia -- the biggest child killer worldwide -- by 2015.

Although nearly 2 million children die from the disease every year, with nearly all deaths occurring in 68 developing countries, relatively few resources are dedicated to addressing pneumonia.

The Global Action Plan for the prevention and control of Pneumonia (GAPP) seeks to raise awareness of the disease's massive toll, makes recommendations on what needs to be done, and lays out specific goals and targets.

The three-pronged plan calls for:
? protecting all children by providing an environment where they are at low risk of contracting the disease through exclusive breastfeeding for six months, adeq
uate nutrition and reducing indoor air pollution, among other measures
? preventing children from becoming ill through vaccinations against diseases causing pneumonia, such as measles and pertussis and
? treating children who come down with pneumonia with the right care and antibiotics.

WHO Director-General Margaret Chan expressed confidence in the plan, which has a $39 billion price tag, stressing that "if it is applied in every high burden country, we will be able to prevent millions of death."

For her part, UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman underscored that "effective interventions to reduce deaths caused by pneumonia must be used more widely made more readily available for children at risk."

The GAPP aims to boost coverage of all relevant vaccines and exclusive breastfeeding rates to 90 per cent to reach the goal of slashing child pneumonia deaths by 65 per cent and cutting the number of severe cases by 25 per cent, compared to 2000 levels.

Nov 1 2009 10:10PM
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PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE PULLS OUT OF AFGHAN RUN-OFF ELECTION -- UN

PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE PULLS OUT OF AFGHAN RUN-OFF ELECTION -- UN
New York, Nov 1 2009 10:10AM
With Abdullah Abdullah, the challenger to President Hamid Karzai in next week's run-off, withdrawing from the race, the top United Nations envoy to Afghanistan today expressed hope that the elections will be wrapped up shortly.

The 7 November run-off was announced late last month after the UN-backed Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) found evidence of fraud in the first round of voting on 20 August.

On the heels of Mr. Abdullah's announcement today, "the next step must be to bring this electoral process to a conclusion in a legal and timely manner," Kai Eide, the Secretary-General's Special Envoy, said in a <"http://unama.unmissions.org/Default.aspx?tabid=1741&ctl=Details&mid=1882&ItemID=6362">statement.

Mr. Abdullah's decision was clearly "taken after a long period of discussion and reflection," and the UN official voiced hope that the former presidential candidate's reform propo
sals will be part of Afghanistan's future political agenda.

Last week, five UN staff members were killed and nine others injured in an attack, for which the Taliban has claimed responsibility, on a guest house in the capital, Kabul.

Jossie Esto of the Philippines, who worked for the UN Development Programme (<"http://www.undp.org/">UNDP) election team Lewis Maxwell, a close protection officer from the United States Laurance Mefful, a UN security officer from Ghana and Lydia Wonwene, a UNDP elections officer from Liberia, were killed in Wednesday's attack.

The identity of a fifth UN staff member killed when militants attacked the guest house, where 34 UN staffers were staying, still needs to be confirmed.

"These women and men went to Afghanistan with many talents. But they shared a common goal, that is, to help the Afghan people," Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon <"http://www.un.org/apps/sg/sgstats.asp?nid=4197">told UN staff members on Friday.

"They went despite the risks. They
went to support another election and the opportunity for the Afghan people to shape their destiny," he said.

Both the Secretary-General and Mr. Eide pledged in the aftermath of the attack that the UN will continue its work in the country.

Mr. Ban said that the UN is urgently reviewing the security environment throughout Afghanistan, and is exploring the feasibility of bringing in additional security units to guard UN facilities and guest houses.

The UN will also be consolidating its staff now scattered among many different locations in Kabul and may suggest that personnel not directly engaged in critical duties be re-located over the coming weeks. In addition, Mr. Ban is dispatching a senior UN official to the Afghan capital to express sympathy and solidarity with the staff.

Nov 1 2009 10:10AM
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