The Mother and Child Foundation - UN poised to create Womens' Agency

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu

UN poised to create Womens' Agency

The UN is poised to create a powerful new department for women who say they have been sidelined for decades, to rectify a glaring omission in the world body. Our own Mother and Child Foundation and the Muscat Declaration have called for a "World Charter for Mothers". Advocates for women's rights are looking for a fully-fledged agency with a budget of $1bn (£639m) on a par with other high-profile UN departments, to address crucial areas such as violence against women, property rights and HIV/Aids.

Details from The Guardian

The child is represented by UNICEF, Save the Children Fund, Institutes of Child Health and the many other organisations and fund raising activities. There is no voice for the mother" Mark Belsey, then Director of Maternal and Child Health at WHO, Geneva, at the Inaugural Conference that started the Mother and Child Foundation

The Health of the Nation Depends on the Mother and Child, Royal Society of Medicine, London [November 1993]

The world health evidence. The mother is the key to the next generation. Belsey M. Nutr Health. 1993;9(2):75-80.

a message repeated at

Maternal Nutrition as the Key to the Health and Ability of the Child, Royal Society of Medicine, London [2nd December 1999]

and

Generating Healthy Brains - Nutrients and Hormones in Development: mental health through coordinated care of life's beginnings, The Innholders Hall, 30 College Street, Dowgate Hill, London [17th January 2006]

to say nothing of

Nurturing the brain nutritionally and emotionally from before conception to late adolescence. House SH. Nutr Health. 2007;19(1-2):143-61.

Stages in reproduction particularly vulnerable to xenobiotic hazards and nutritional deficits. House S. Nutr Health. 2000;14(3):147-93.

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Mental Ill Health Now The Highest Cost To Ill Health

The June issue of the European Journal of Neurology (vol12:1-27), Patrik Andin-Soboki et al, report the total cost for the 25 member states of the EU as a staggering €386 billion at 2004 costs that is €829 per head. A large part of the cause has its origins in early development. In a letter to the Lancet at the end of August, the Foundation blames the elite advisory system supposedly giving Government advice on health, nutrition and education for ignoring mental ill health and low birthweight which is the single most important determinant of mental impairment. (Crawford M et al Lancet. 2005; 366:714-5).

New Evidence on the Cause of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome: Adverse prenatal conditions predispose to Cot Death.

A study reported in the Lancet of more than a quarter of a million women in Scotland found that stunted prenatal growth and pre-term delivery were at the highest risk. And a previous cot death increased the risk, destroying the often used accusation of child abuse as the cause.

To read the full story, visit www.nature.com/news