Every Child Deserves a Fifth Birthday: A Mother's Perspective

“Every Child Deserves at 5th Birthday” website.

Next month, USAID will be having its two-day “Child Survival: Call To Action” meeting and they are currently campaigning to create awareness about the importance of child survival advocacy. This is something that REALLY hits home with me, because my own daughter will be turning 5 in July. I’m not going to quote facts & figures on infant & child mortality rates around the world. You can see all of that on the USAID site. But the “Every Child Deserves a 5th Birthday” campaign is one that makes me incredibly grateful that I live in a country where I have easy access to healthcare for my daughter. Her 5 year-old checkup with our family doctor is coming up soon, and while my daughter may not be happy about the fact that she’s going to need some vaccinations in order to be able to go to kindergarten (and I will cringe a little too when she gets her shots), I know that by giving her this protection – which I’ve done at regular intervals since she was a baby – she has had a relatively healthy childhood. I don’t have to worry that she’ll get a nasty case of the chickenpox, like I did, or ear infections that could lead to deafness, or more serious illnesses like polio, rotavirus or measles, that weaken & even kill young children in many other parts of the world. 

This campaign is a “no-brainer” for me on a very personal level as a Mom, but I urge everyone to check out the website and get involved. It’s also a really great feeling to scroll down the list of “partners” & see that RESULTS is on there and I can truly count myself as a member of such a great organization that’s making a real difference in the lives of children.