Survive to five

When I was five-years-old, I believed that toys could talk, chairs could fly and that mysterious, magical lands existed at the tops of trees.

I dreamed of owning a faithful dog like Timmy in Enid Blyton’s Famous Five books to accompany me on long, rambling adventures through the countryside. Instead, I ended up with a stray black mongrel who chased cars, bit passers-by and fought other dogs in the neighbourhood.

My favourite meal was bread with dripping and honey, washed down with a glass of chocolate milk while I voyaged through the galaxy with the Robinson family from the television show, Lost in Space. And I had high hopes for the future - I wanted to be a comic book writer, Batman and a magician.

In fact, my father spent many hours teaching me magic tricks, such as how to fool people into thinking that I’d cut off my finger. He and my mother acted suitably amazed during my nightly magic shows.

Without being consciously aware of it, my parents nurtured my curiosity, which helped me develop my imagination well into adulthood - a necessary attribute as a children’s book writer.

Like all children aged five and under, my body and brain grew rapidly during this period. This is when language skills develop and the foundations are laid for future health or sickness.

In fact, a child’s survival also depends on the health and wellbeing of their parents. When mothers have access to healthcare, education and economic opportunity, just as my mum did, it gives their children the best chance to thrive during their formative years.

But many children worldwide are not as fortunate as I was. In fact, 8.8 million children die each year before they reach their fifth birthday - that’s more than 24,000 children every day who can no longer aspire to be an astronaut, a fireman or Superman.

For many of these children, particularly in the poorest countries in Asia and Africa, their fate is sealed by a lack of access to basic health services. This year, more than five million young children and newborn babies will die needlessly from easily preventable and treatable conditions. The five main causes of death in children under five are malnutrition, malaria, vaccine preventable diseases, pneumonia and diarrhoea.

The Australian Government’s focus on better access to health care in the Asia-Pacific region should be commended. And the increase in development assistance for the world’s poorest countries is also a step in right direction, from 0.34 per cent of gross national income in 2009-10 to 0.5 per cent in 2015-16.

But more urgent action is needed.

The Australian Government should match the generosity of other developed countries to help developing countries because the global economic crisis, conflict and natural disasters are increasingly placing vulnerable communities under pressure.

The United Nations recommends developed countries contribute 0.7 per cent of their gross domestic product to overseas development assistance. As a start, Australia should contribute 0.47 per cent of GNI to overseas aid by 2010-11, the equivalent amount of an average donor country. Other countries such as Norway contribute twice this amount to international development programs.

More funds and many more trained health workers are needed to accelerate progress towards reducing by two-thirds the under-five, child mortality rate by 2015. This would fulfil Millennium Development Goal Four - one of several goals that form a global blueprint developed by world leaders in 2000 to halve global poverty by 2015.

More funding is needed to tackle malnutrition and a lack of food security and make health services more accessible to marginalised communities.

Meanwhile, in Australia, Indigenous children are three times more likely to die before their fifth birthday than non-Indigenous children.

About 85 per cent of deaths occur in children aged one and under, exacerbated by maternal health factors such as smoking and alcohol consumption by expectant mothers. Poor breastfeeding rates are also a problem because children miss out on antibodies in breast milk that provide resistance to infections.

The Council of Australian Governments has vowed to halve the gap in child mortality for Indigenous children under five by 2017-18. Investing in better data collection would lay the foundation for more effective policies aimed at reducing Indigenous child mortality even further - by two-thirds before 2015.

Developing a national education strategy targeting Indigenous mothers about the importance of antenatal care and a national network of Indigenous community-controlled health care centres for remote communities would improve survival rates for Indigenous children.

Extending paid parental leave from the Federal Government’s commitment of 18 weeks’ leave to six months would allow mothers to bond with their children and establish breastfeeding. Introducing this scheme next year instead 2011 means many more children would benefit.

Every child deserves the right to a happy and fulfilling life - governments at all levels should take urgent action to save the lives of as many children as possible.