baby-in-diapers.jpgAs the G8 summit in Toronto came to a close on Saturday, health advocates hailed the Canadian-led Muskoka Initiative for elevating maternal and child health to a flagship cause for the group’s development agenda.

Recognizing the importance of child and maternal health, leaders of the G8 industrialized nations pledged an additional $5 billion of aid over the next five years toward the goal of saving 1.3 million children.

The summit in Muskoka ended with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s much-anticipated announcement of the Muskoka Initiative on maternal and child health, which he called a comprehensive and integrated approach to accelerate progress towards Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5, which seek to reduce by two-thirds the under-five child mortality rate, and reduce by three quarters the ratio of maternal mortality.

READ also this analysis in the National Post by Dr. Peter A. Singer, Director of the McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health at University Health Network and University of Toronto.

Click to read the White House summary: The G-8 Muskoka Summit: Saving Lives Through the New G-8 Maternal and Child Health Initiative.

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