UN / CHILD MORTALITY (02:00)

10 September 2009

UN / CHILD MORTALITY (02:00)

New figures released by UNICEF show that the numbers of children who die before their fifth birthday continues to decline. Report features an interview with UNICEF Chief of Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Renee Van de Weerdt. UNICEF

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Full Script

STORY: UN / CHILD MORTALITY
TRT:  2.00
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 10 SEPTEMBER 2009, NEW YORK CITY / FILE

SHOTLIST:

FILE - PAKISTAN, MAY 12, 2009

1. Wide shot, children playing
2.Med shot, baby crawling

FILE - ETHIOPIA, 24 APRIL 2006

3.Med shot, mother and baby with health worker
4.Close up, baby crying

FILE – AFRICA (DATE AND LOCATION UNKNOWN)

5.Wide shot, people waiting for health care
6.Med shot, baby sitting on parent’s shoulders

FILE - ZIMBABWE, JUNE 2009

7.Med shot, nurse treating baby
8.Close up, baby in hospital bed

NEW YORK, 10 SEPTEMBER 2009

9.SOUNDIBTE (English) Renee Van de Weerdt, UNICEF Chief of Maternal, Newborn and Child Health:
“The number is going down because we have been, together with partners, good at matching cases of death with the interventions. An example would be malaria, and malaria still kills a lot of children but we’ve been really good at distributing insecticide treated nets, getting the new drugs out, getting good at children at risk of malaria are protected and treated.”

FILE - ZIMBABWE, JUNE 2009

10. Med shot, mother and baby

FILE - SRI LANKA, DECEMBER 2008

11.Med shot, mother feeding baby in hospital

NEW YORK, 10 SEPTEMBER 2009

12.SOUNDBITE (Enlgish) Renee Van de Weerdt, UNICEF Chief of Maternal, Newborn and Child Health:
 “If we see countries like Malawi for example as a country that has made huge progress in terms of under five mortality reduction, countries like Bangladesh, like Nepal, many countries in sub sarahan Africa like even Niger where one would think that it would be very difficult to make progress have shown that they can make progress.”

FILE - DR CONGO, DECEMBER 2008

13.Med shot, UN peacekeepers direct vehicles, pan to women and children fleeing

FILE - LESOTHO FEBRUARY 2009

14. Med shot, mother and baby in hospital 
15. Close up, baby being treated in hospital

NEW YORK, 10 SEPTEMBER 2009

16. SOUNDIBTE (English) Renee Van de Weerdt, UNICEF Chief of Maternal, Newborn and Child Health:
“For UNICEF again and with all the partners working on the ground, working in conflict-affected countries, working   around HIV prevention and treatment will be really key to make sure the numbers continue to go down.”

FILE – AFRICA (DATE AND LOCATION UNKNOWN)
17. Med shot, doctor working with child patient
18. Close up, doctor
19. Close up, baby

FILE - SYRIA, JULY 2008

20. Close up, baby being vaccinated

FILE - ANGOLA, 2008

21. Med shot, health worker
22. Close up, baby getting drops

SRI LANKA, December 2008

23. Med shot, mother and baby walking on beach

STORYLINE:

Significantly reducing the number of children who die before they reach their fifth birthday is one of the key Millenium Development Goals (MDGs).

Malnutrition and diseases such as malaria and diarrhea continue to rob more than eight million children of their lives each year.

But that number is decreasing. In 2008 an estimated 8.8 million children died, down from 12 and a half million in 1990

SOUNDIBTE (English) Renee Van de Weerdt, UNICEF Chief of Maternal, Newborn and Child Health:
 “The number is going down because we have been, together with partners, good at matching cases of death with the interventions. An example would be malaria, and malaria still kills a lot of children but we’ve been really good at distributing insecticide treated nets, getting the new drugs out, getting good at children at risk of malaria are protected and treated.”

Ninety-three percent of under-five deaths occur in Africa and Asia but even within those regions, progress is being made.

SOUNDIBTE (English) Renee Van de Weerdt, UNICEF Chief of Maternal, Newborn and Child Health:
 “If we see countries like Malawi for example as a country that has made huge progress in terms of under five mortality reduction, countries like Bangladesh, like Nepal, many countries in sub sarahan Africa like even Niger where one would think that it would be very difficult to make progress have shown that they can make progress.”

Progress has not been so marked in countries that suffer on-going conflict, and in southern Africa where there are high numbers of women living with HIV.

SOUNDIBTE (English) Renee Van de Weerdt, UNICEF Chief of Maternal, Newborn and Child Health:
 “For UNICEF again and with all the partners working on the ground, working in conflict-affected countries, working around HIV prevention and treatment will be really key to make sure the numbers continue to go down.”

Progress can be accelerated even in the poorest environments, through integrated, evidence-driven, community-based health programs that focus on addressing the major causes of death -- pneumonia, diarrhea, newborn disorders, malaria, HIV and under-nutrition.

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