A child dies every 3 seconds, a mother every minute

In a Comment published early Online (Thurs 25 September) and later this week in the print edition of The Lancet, the Prime Ministers of Norway andThe Netherlands, and the presidents of Tanzania and The World Bank, discuss the finance issues that surround the attempts to attain the Millennium Development Goals on Maternal and Child Mortality. The publication coincides with the high profile meeting on MDG progression at the UN General Assembly.

The authors conclude: "Let us be as bold as the world was at the start of this millennium. Let us build on that same spirit of urgency and collaboration, and galvanise international action on innovative financing for health and MDG 4 and 5. Let us have an advanced proposal by the Development Financing Conference10 in late November and conclude next year. Only then will pregnancy and childbirth bring joy, not fear, to the lives of so many mothers in the developing world. We each commit to play our part to ensure a successful and rapid outcome. A child dies every 3 seconds, a mother every minute. We have no time to lose."

Tore Godal T) +47 97600191 E) Tore.Godal@smk.dep.no / Arvid.Sameland@smk.dep.no; Tor.Borgersen@smk.dep.no

Amie Batson T) +1 202 744 9182 E) ABatson@World.Bank.org

Full Comment: http://press.thelancet.com/mdgprimeministers.pdf