Sounds funny, doesn’t it? Why would we have to vote for that? But unfortunately we do. Fortunately we can, and we can influence that vote. With 10 million children under the age of 5 dying every year from preventable causes we cannot remain silent.

For us in the US, diarrhea is a nuisance. For a child in the developing world, it is a death sentence. In 2007 it is estimated that 1.8 million children will die from dehydration due to diarrhea. In many cases, all that it takes to re-hydrate these children to save their lives is a handful of sugar, a bottle of clean water, and a pinch of salt.

Sadly, there is one more ingredient needed to save these children: the will to do it. The Global Child Survival Act is an expression of that will. It would dramatically scale up funding for effective and affordable child and maternal health programs and it would require the government to develop a comprehensive plan for improving children’s health around the world.

You can be a part of the solution. Write your representative and Senators and ask them to vote for Childhood Survival. We live in a global culture and we are now globally responsible. This is one small thing you can do to help.

Check out the Fact Sheet on Childhood Mortality from ONE.org

Posted In: children poverty

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