Sarkozy baby wins geographic roulette
World Vision congratulates President Sarkozy and Carla Bruni on the news a precious baby will soon join their family.
Baby Sarkozy is privileged to be born to such parents, and also to be born in France where (s)he is 52 times more likely to celebrate a fifth birthday than a baby born this year in the former French colony, Chad.
Carla Bruni is 150 times more likely to survive pregnancy and childbirth than a woman in Chad. Their chances of survival are simply based on country of birth.
G8 Summit
As G8 leaders gathered in Deauville, France, their congratulations to the Sarkozy family should have been coupled with renewed efforts to tackle the unacceptable inequities in child and maternal health.
As one of the least developed countries in the world, Chad is the perfect example of a country in greatest need of G8 support. It is one of five countries where child mortality rates have worsened since the G8, made Millennium Development Goal promises in 2000.
Chad
Children in Chad are dying of things children in the West so rarely die of—things like diarrhoea, malaria and pneumonia.
With approximately half of all children in Chad being malnourished, they also die of minor childhood illnesses because they don’t have the strength to recover.
About two-thirds of children could be saved with simple things like better nutrition, mosquito nets and immunizations – the things that have reduced child deaths globally by more than four million a year since 1990.
Maternal health
Carla Bruni will likely give birth in a hospital with a doctor who specializes in childbirth. She has very little to fear about her health in the process.
Mothers in Chad often go through labour without any sort of skilled birth attendant. Most of them lack advice and support during pregnancy and in the critical days following childbirth, with the result that many lose their lives.
Chad has the second highest maternal mortality rates worldwide. It’s estimated 80 per cent of these deaths could be prevented if women had access to simple things like better nutrition, emergency care and a trained health worker during childbirth.
Children will continue to die unless leaders ensure simple and affordable measures reach the doorsteps of children and mothers in developing countries.
Find out more about how you can get involved in World Vision's global Child Health Now campaign.
