What is the EVERY ONE campaign?

Imagine the combined population of Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide dying every year. Shocking isn’t it? The reality is 8.8 million children around the world die each year before their fifth birthday.

What’s worse is the majority of children are dying from conditions that are treatable and preventable like pneumonia, diarrhoea, malaria and measles. Children are also dying from a lack of food – malnutrition is a contributing factor in many deaths.

Often families live too far away from health facilities, which are too few in number. In some cases, preventable measures – such as vaccines and mosquito nets are simply not available. And many parents simply don't have the means to properly care for their sick child.

Save the Children has two main ways you can get involved in the EVERY ONE campaign: they are Make Your Mark and Knit One Save One.

For a short time we are also selling EVERY ONE kids t-shirts & rompers. Dress your kids for a cause and help spread our message.

EVERY ONE is a global campaign, so there is action happening worldwide. To find out what other Save the Children organisations are doing around the world visit www.everyone.org.

What is the issue?

Every three seconds, a child under the age of five dies. Save the Children believes that every child - no matter where they are born - has an equal right and deserves an equal chance to survive. Our EVERY ONE campaign is a call for global action to save the lives of millions of children who die each year from preventable or treatable causes.

Can I have some statistics?

Sure, here are some more statistics which highlight the importance of our campaign.

8.8 million: the number of children who die each year around the world before they reach their fifth birthday.

4 million: the number of children who die within their first month.

3 million: nearly three million babies die within one week of birth.

2 million: the number of children who die within the first 24 hours after birth - the equivalent of 5,500 newborn infants dying per day.

6: The number of countries where more than half of all child deaths occur - India, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Pakistan, and China.

3.5 million: The number of under-five year-old deaths caused by pneumonia and diarrhoea.

2 million: The number of children in India who die every year before their fifth birthday.

57: The World Health Organization’s assessment of the number of countries with critical shortages of health workers - 36 of them in Africa.

86%: The proportion of newborn deaths caused by severe infections, asphyxia and premature births.

500,000: The number of lives that can be saved annually by Save the Children through health and nutrition programs across the globe.

What is the situation in Australia?

Infant deaths account for 85% of all deaths of children under the age of five in Australia. Despite its wealth, Australia ranks poorly in terms of infant and under-five mortality rates compared to other Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, largely due to the high number of Indigenous infant deaths. In Australia, Indigenous children under the age of five are three times more likely to die than non-Indigenous children.

Why do so many children die before their fifth birthday?

The majority of deaths of children under the age of five are due to treatable or preventable diseases and medical conditions including neonatal causes, pneumonia, diarrhoea, malaria, measles and HIV and AIDS. Globally, malnutrition contributes to more than one-third of all child deaths.

Lack of access to essential health care, poor feeding practices, lack of access to clean water and safe sanitation, lack of maternal education and limited access to contraception also contribute to high levels of infant and child mortality.

Poverty, inequality, discrimination, weak governance, violent conflict, climate change and natural disasters are also factors which contribute to infant and child mortality.

Why do children under the age of five die in Australia?

Perinatal conditions (including low birthweight and pre-term birth), congenital anomalies, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), injury, cancer and diseases of the nervous system are the main causes of death of children under the age of five in Australia.

Maternal health including poor nutrition, smoking, alcohol consumption and poor access to quality health care are also factors which contribute to child deaths in Australia.

What is the world doing about this issue?

Not enough. Governments worldwide have failed to provide the leadership, resources and sense of urgency necessary to reduce newborn and child mortality. In 2000, world leaders committed to Millennium Development Goal 4, which calls for a reduction of the global under-five mortality rate by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015. At the current rate of progress, this target will not be met until 2045.

The Millennium Development Goals are eight international development goals committed to by world leaders that, when achieved, will end extreme poverty worldwide by 2015.

How can the lives of children be saved globally?

Save the Children believes that coverage of proven interventions that reduce newborn, infant and child mortality must be expanded including:

• Effective prenatal, antenatal and post natal care during pregnancy.
• Presence of skilled attendants during child birth.
• Preventive and curative treatment for pneumonia, diarrhoea and malaria such as antibiotics, oral rehydration therapy and insecticide-treated bed nets.
• Immunisation from basic childhood illness such as tetanus, polio, measles, diphtheria and tuberculosis.
• Proper nutrition including breastfeeding, complementary feeding and vitamin supplements.

The presence of community health workers in poor and remote communities with limited access to hospitals and clinics also plays an important role in reducing infant and child mortality. Community health workers help families recognise the warning signs of illness, diagnose and treat common childhood infections, supply basic medicine, and promote healthy behaviours such as immunisation, breast-feeding and good hygiene.

How many lives could be saved through these solutions?

It is estimated that 5.4 million children’s lives could be saved through coverage of low-cost child survival services and practices in the countries where 90% of under-five deaths occur.

What does Save the Children want to achieve globally from the EVERY ONE campaign?

Our objective is to help get the world on track to achieve Millennium Development Goal 4 by bringing about a substantial reduction in the deaths of young children and improving the health and wellbeing of mothers. We urge governments, donors, developing countries and international organisations to help save the lives of children based on the following seven-point plan:

1. Implement credible national plans.
2. Focus on newborn babies.
3. Prioritise equity.
4. Mobilise resources.
5. Train and deploy more health workers.
6. Tackle undernutrition.
7. Increase focus on children in emergencies.

What does Save the Children want to achieve through the EVERYONE campaign in Australia?

We are calling on the Australian Government to commit to reduce child mortality in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities by two-thirds within the next six years.

What’s it going to cost?

Globally, we need to double annual spending on health programs and services for newborns and young children to $A77 billion by 2015. That’s far less than the $100 billion that global consumers spend on bottled water and a fraction of the money used to bail out banks and financial institutions over the past 12 months. In Australia, the Federal Government has already committed to the biggest ever injection of funding for Indigenous health - $1.6 billion – but it’s not just a matter of money.
We also need to recruit and train more Indigenous health workers and work in partnership with Indigenous communities.

How much do you expect Australia to contribute to the global fund?

Australia should substantially increase its official development assistance (ODA) to 0.47% of its gross national income (GNI) by 2010-11, matching the current contribution of the average donor country. In 2009-10, the Australian Government will allocate 0.34% of its gross national income - approximately $3.8 billion - to official development assistance. The government plans to increase this amount to 0.5% by 2015-16. This is still well below the United Nations recommended target that developed countries contribute 0.7% of their gross domestic product to official development assistance.

What does Save the Children want me to do?

We want you to get involved. Help us make child mortality a top public issue and a major topic of debate.

You can Make Your Mark online or in person. You can make a difference with your thumbprint, so check out our Make Your Mark website for more information.

You can join our Knit One Save One project. For more information click here.

Of course, please do tell your friends and help us spread the word about this very important issue. You can join us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to get the latest news on our campaigns.