What were you like when you were five years old?I bet most of you would be pampered and cared for by your parents, with candies and chocolates in your pockets, and without a care in the world but to just play, be active, and be healthy.
Now, imagine yourself: a five-year-old child, with face gaunt and full of misery, with bodies as thin as skeleton, and so weak from suffering numerous ailments. Pitiful. Hard to imagine yourself that way. But you know, it’s not just in your imagination. It is real. It exists. It happens.
Do you know that more than 8 million children under the age of five die every year? Can you just imagine how many mothers have grieved for their children, how much innocent lives were lost, and how much future have disappeared?
And that is why the United Nations (UN) has established the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which aims to resolve problems in the society and in the world. And one of the main issues that are addressed is the death rate of children especially those ages five and below. Therefore the UN proposed MDG4 which strives to reduce child mortality all over the world. It started in the year 1990 and targets to diminish child mortality rate by two thirds by the year of 2015. It's already 2011, four more years to go. Do you think it’s possible? Can we really do it? No. Without everyone’s help and cooperation, we cannot. But if all of us unite, then together we can do it.
According to the WHO (World Health Organization), many children die from pneumonia, diarrhea, measles, malaria, HIV/AIDS, and other neonatal causes. These were mostly ailments due to bacteria, viruses, and other infections due to the lack of basic needs and a clean environment. Could you allow this to happen? Would you let them perish and steal away their opportunity to see this world? Give them a chance. Allow them to reach their fifth birthdays. Allow them to live. Give them the gift of life.
And we can do something. Overall, some progress has been made towards the achievement of MDG4. The total number of under-5 deaths in the world has declined from 12.5 million in 1990 to 8.8 million in 2008. This is a satisfactory start. However, a lot more could be done. We can start by providing healthcare for newborns and their mothers, by expanding programs for affordable and free immunizations and vaccines, and by promoting infant and child feeding for the improvement of nutrition. There is also a need for an easier access to basic services such as clean water and proper sanitation. There is a need to provide these needs, so let’s all listen. Are we listening? Or are we just simply hearing? We’re always expressing our reaction? Why don’t we take some action?
Let us reduce child mortality. Because children are the key to a new progressive world. Children are the hope for a better future. A small infant can make a difference. This young child will be the country’s most competent businessman. This young child will be the world’s most prominent doctor, lawyer, and scientist. This young child will be our nation’s greatest leader.
So, would you allow young children and infants to be robbed of their own existence? Of their own future?
Don’t. Because a child’s future is the world’s future.
