By Koki Agarwal, Director, Maternal and Child Survival Program; Ana Langer, Director, Maternal Health Task Force; and Joy Riggs-Perla, Director, Saving Newborn Lives at Save the Children
While the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) underlined the necessity of better policies and programs to improve maternal and child health, HIV and AIDS, malaria, and other health conditions, the approach had significant flaws. Having separate goals for mothers and children may have been a disservice, fostering the persistent segmentation of service delivery.
The era of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) recently started. With their focus on universal health care, equity, and integration, the new policy framework represents a historic opportunity to build on progress, while addressing the limitations of the MDGs. It is critical, however, not to let an emphasis on maternal and newborn health wane in this new broad agenda… read more