Building partnerships, innovations and systems that will help the world end preventable deaths of mothers and children
New Delhi: Tata Trusts co-hosted the third global ‘CALL TO ACTION SUMMIT 2015 for ending preventable Child and Maternal Deaths’ on August 27-28, 2015 in New Delhi along with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare - India, Health Ministry of Ethiopia, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, UNICEF, USAID, UK Aid and WHO.
The two-day Leadership Summit was a confluence of health ministers from 24 countries that had earlier committed to the Global Call to Action for Child Survival in June 2012. Recognizing the centrality of health and well-being of women and children in shaping prosperous and sustainable societies, the ministers and heads of country delegations committed to accelerate efforts to end preventable child and maternal deaths in support of the Every Woman Every Child Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s, and Adolescents’ Health.
At the Summit, Mr. R K Krishna Kumar, Trustee, Tata Trusts said, “This Call to Action Summit could be a transformational initiative to effectively deal with infant and child mortality and maternal health, which I believe is a Triangular Evil. We welcome this Summit which will not only lead to sharing the best practices amongst countries and organisations but also galvanise highly focused and sustained action plans to cut down the Triangular Evil. We believe that this is a formidable challenge not only for Governments but civil society as a whole and indeed responsible corporate organisations and individuals.”
The summit is a prelude to the United Nations Summit for the adoption of post-2015 development agenda that will be held as a high-level plenary meeting of the UN General Assembly in September 2015.The forum aims at stimulating efforts of all countries and stakeholders to provide the much needed impetus for positioning child survival goals in the post-2015 development agenda.
“Tata Trusts have been at the forefront of the battle against malnutrition and disease which are at the root of poverty and societal distress. In the last two financial years, Tata Trusts have spent over INR 1000 Cr. as a substantial part on health related interventions across the length and breadth of the country. The vision of the Trusts’ is embedded in the renewed commitment to address the scourge of the Triangular Evil with a sharp focus on the crucial first thousand days between conception till the child reaches two years of age. We are firmly convinced that Gandhiji’s vision of Poorna Swaraj for India can only be achieved if poverty is banished from the root. We believe that this is one moral challenge which we should face with courage and determination to eliminate the tragic deaths of mothers, infants and young children for issues that are preventable.”, added Mr. R K Krishna Kumar.
While speaking on the rise of innovative technologies in the healthcare industry, Mr. R K Krishna Kumar elaborated saying, “With the ethos to create sustainable livelihoods, Tata Trusts has created an effective infrastructure for implementation of development programmes and have collaborated with around 450 non-profit organisations across the country for effective delivery of projects. Recently, the Trusts’ has set up a programme with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US to promote and innovate healthcare technology for early diagnosis in low resource settings that nurtures the culture of innovation. The most recent contribution to the healthcare industry is the Tata Medical Centre Trust in Kolkata, a cancer hospital on which the Tata Trusts and Tata companies have spent Rs.550 crores to face the challenge of cancer from the eastern region of India.”
The summit aimed at making improvements in the country specific health plans to ensure women, newborn, children, and adolescents survive, thrive and transform. Together they committed to mobilize the increased resources needed to accelerate progress and support the implementation of the post 2015 development agenda.
About Tata Trusts
Tata Trusts are amongst India's oldest, non-sectarian philanthropic organizations that work in several areas of community development. Tata Trusts seek to be catalysts in development through giving grants to institutions in the areas of Natural Resources Management, Rural Livelihoods, Urban Livelihoods & Poverty, Education, Enhancing Civil Society and Governance, Health and Media Arts, Crafts and Culture.
For more information please visit https://tatatrusts.org/