title: Integrated Strategies to Address Maternal and Child Health and Survival in Low-Income Settings: Implications for Haiti.
abstract: The Millennium Development Goals for improving maternal and child health globally were agreed on in 2000, and several monitoring and evaluation strategies were put in place, including "Countdown to 2015" for monitoring progress and intervention coverage to reach the goals. However, progress in achieving the goals has been slow, with only 13 of the 75 participating Countdown countries on track to reach the targets for reducing child mortality.An overview of child mortality rates in low-income countries is presented, followed by a discussion of evidenced-based interventions that can bridge the equity gaps in global health. Finally, comments are included on the companion article in this issue, "Addressing the Child and Maternal Mortality Crisis in Haiti through a Central Referral Hospital Providing Countrywide Care" (page 59), and what is needed for that new project to succeed.
authors.affiliation: Robert Harding Inaugural Chair in Global Child Health at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada, and the Founding Director of the Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health at the Aga Khan University in Karachi, Pakistan. He was a member of the independent Expert Review Group set by the UN Secretary General in September 2011 for monitoring global progress in the United Nations maternal and child health Millennium Development Goals. zulfiqar.bhutta@sickkids.ca.
authors.forename: Zulfiqar A
authors.initials: ZA
authors.lastname: Bhutta
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D000067576:Child Health; D046688:Child Mortality; D006205:Haiti; D006801:Humans; D008428:Maternal Mortality; D011203:Poverty