UNICEF lists the top causes of child deaths

UNICEF's recent announcement that the number of deaths of children under 5 dropped below 10 million for the first time has been widely publicised.

Less widely reported is the list of reasons for the 9.7 million child deaths which did occur in 2006:

1 NEONATAL CAUSES - 3.6 million perished in the first four weeks after birth due to complications from premature birth, severe infections, birth asphyxia, birth defects, tetanus, diarrhea-related diseases and other causes.

2. PNEUMONIA - About 1.8 million children died of pneumonia, an inflammation of the lung generally caused by an infection that is marked by a cough and difficult breathing. It kills more children than any other single disease. A number of different organisms can cause it including bacteria, viruses and fungi.

3. DIARRHEA - About 1.6 million children died from diarrheal illnesses. Severe diarrhea can cause fluid loss. It is life-threatening in children who are malnourished or have impaired immunity. Diarrhea often is caused by viruses, bacteria and parasites.

4. MALARIA - Malaria killed about 780,000 children under 5 in 2006.

5. OTHERS - Measles killed 390,000 children under 5 in 2006; AIDS killed 290,000. UNICEF also said inadequate nutrition can be considered an underlying cause in about half of the worldwide deaths under age 5.

Read more on the UNICEF website.

Federation Release: Doing the dirty work: sanitation and hygiene save lives in Pakistan

The British Red Cross mass sanitation Emergency Response Unit (ERU) is working with Pakistan Red Crescent volunteers and community members to build temporary latrines, clean up waste and share information on hygiene promotion. This translates into much needed relief for Saeeda, Sima and their families.

Throughout South Asia, an estimated 37 million people have been hit by terrible flooding. In Pakistan, more than 300 people died and over 88,000 homes were damaged or destroyed.

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Lessons learned from the Pakistan earthquake two years ago are being applied in the flood-stricken area. For example, in the quake-affected North-West Frontier Province, women hygiene promoters have been trained by the Red Crescent to teach other women about the importance of boiling water and regular bathing. The promotion of good hygiene habits is also now being carried out in Baluchistan and Sindh.

"Providing facilities isn’t enough, says Fortune. "By sharing knowledge on hygiene, we ensure that families become safer and healthier as well."

Jean Gilardi, Fortune’s teammate on the British ERU, is in charge of teaching communities about the importance of hygiene and notes the success she has witnessed.

"We’re already seeing changes… the children wash their hands after using the latrines and the women understand that if they practice good hygiene, eat well and drink milk, their babies will be healthier," Gilardi says.

Read more on the Reliefweb site.

International Review of the Red Cross focusses on 'Humanitarian Actors'

The latest edition of the Review is themed 'Humanitarian Actors':

'Multiple humanitarian actors with different objectives, principles and modi operandi intervene in situations of armed conflict and internal violence in order to alleviate the plight of the victims: governmental and non-governmental organisations, international organisations, National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and private companies, among others. The diversity of actors and approaches can help to alleviate suffering if they manage to act in a complementary fashion, on the basis of their respective operational abilities. This edition explores the distinctive characteristics of the diverse actors and the need to build and nurture an effective partnership among them.'

Articles include:

• Non-governmental organizations: an indispensable player of humanitarian aid (Philippe Ryfman);
  
• Dunant’s pyramid: thoughts on the ‘‘humanitarian space’’ (Daniel Thürer);
  
• Beyond the Red Cross: the protection of independent humanitarian organizations and their staff in international humanitarian law (Kate Mackintosh);
  
• The 29th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, Geneva, 20–22 June 2006: challenges and outcome (François Bugnion);
  
• Commentary on the Protocol additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Adoption of an Additional Distinctive Emblem (Protocol III)

More information and downloadable articles available from the ICRC website; hardcopies available from the BRC library.

UN-OCHA article - The humanitarian impact of climate change

By Margareta Wahlström

The greatest risk we face is doing nothing. It is time to roll up our sleeves and get to work in building more disaster-resilient communities. ... Many of the most effective tools at our disposal to save lives are based on mobilizing people, not on expensive technology. Community-based early warning systems, local disaster education and evacuation plans, better crop and land management techniques are all being completed with great success by nations across the resource spectrum.

Read the rest of the article on Reliefweb.

BRC Media and PR Officer Blogs on Alertnet on the Bangladesh cyclone community preparedness project

Georgina Cooper, Media and PR Officer for the British Red Cross, is a guest blogger on Alertnet. Her first article deals with the need for women-focussed peer education on cyclone preparedness, and the work of the Building Community Disaster Preparedness Capacity Project.

Click on the link above to see Georgina's page.

HPN Network Paper 60: Mobile Health Units in emergency operations: A methodological approach

by Stephane du Mortier and Rudi Coninx.

Mobile health units are often used to provide health care in unstable situations, such as armed conflicts, where fixed services cannot function for reasons of security. They are, however a controversial way of providing health care, because of their cost, irregular service provision and logistical complexities. Drawing on the experience of the ICRC and relevant literature, this Paper provides a decision making framework for health care workers.

Click here to download the paper.

HPN: DRR in Humanitarian Exchange Magazine 38

Humanitarian Exchange Magazine 38 has just been published, and features articles on Disaster Risk Reduction.

An increasing body of best practice has emerged on this topic but there are still many challenges, not least the dynamically changing humanitarian context in which agencies must respond. There is a need for better coordination between climate change, disasters and development communities, greater understanding of both global and local risks associated with climate change, and improved approaches to understand and respond to local vulnerabilities.

Click here to download the magazine.