title: Maternal, neonatal and child health in Pakistan: towards the MDGs by moving from desire to reality.
abstract: Of the 10 million annual deaths of children below five years of age, four million are neonates. Pakistan's neonatal mortality rate of 54/1000 live births, which accounts for 57% of the under-five mortality, the contraceptive prevalence rate stagnating at 30%, the meagre number of deliveries assisted by skilled birth attendants (39%) and the low coverage of cost-effective child survival interventions hamper the achievement of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 4 and 5. The Government launched the national maternal, neonatal and child health programme in 2007 to promote access to evidence-based cost-effective interventions; strengthen district health system capacities; empower communities; expand the community midwives' cadre; and promote utilization of essential services. This paper reviews the implementation of the programme and the likelihood of attaining the MDG4 and 5 targets by 2015, and provides strategic directions for scaling-up programme implementation.
authors.affiliation: World Health Organization, Country Office, Islamabad, Pakistan. shadoula@pak.emro.who.int
authors.forename: A F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Shadoul
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Akhtar
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Bile
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002662:Child Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002669:Child Welfare / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008427:Maternal Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008429:Maternal Welfare / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009026:Mortality; D010154:Pakistan / Q000453:epidemiology; D015397:Program Evaluation