Ms. Fuselli.
Evidence of meeting #18 for Status of Women in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was terms.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #18 for Status of Women in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was terms.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:35 p.m.
Executive Director, Safe Kids Canada
No, this is outside of my scope of expertise, for sure. Certainly we focus on the child side.
4:35 p.m.
Liberal
Michelle Simson Liberal Scarborough Southwest, ON
If you focus on the child side, would you reject evidence that access to safe abortions and contraception could prevent up to 40% of maternal deaths, which has a direct impact on a child, who can die as a result of their mother having died?
4:35 p.m.
Executive Director, Safe Kids Canada
The topic is completely outside of my scope of expertise.
4:35 p.m.
Liberal
4:35 p.m.
Executive Director, Results Canada
I'm sorry, I was confused about who it was directed to.
You said that a large proportion of women die because of lack of access to contraceptive care. What we're advocating concerning these front line health workers is certainly the capacity to deliver a full range of supports in terms of contraception and family planning and birth spacing.
4:35 p.m.
Liberal
Michelle Simson Liberal Scarborough Southwest, ON
The other part of the question was this. If mothers are dying, if 40% of maternal deaths are lack of access to safe abortions, because they're jumping off roofs, would you not agree that it has a direct impact on the lives of children?
4:35 p.m.
Coordinator, Every One Campaign, Save the Children Canada
I'm sorry, I've not heard that statistic, so I can't speak to it.
The statistic that I've seen repeatedly is that it's roughly 15% of women. That's not something to sneeze at, not by any stretch of the imagination. I don't want to leave the impression that I think that's an acceptable number. But as I said, because the majority of the women, according to the statistics, whom we've seen and worked with as organizations are dying because of problems related to the carrying of a child to term and the problems during delivery and after delivery, that is where we felt the focus should be.
4:35 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
Thank you.
I'm going to go to the second person on the list. That's Ms. Wong, for the Conservatives.
4:35 p.m.
Conservative
Alice Wong Conservative Richmond, BC
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, ladies, for coming to this committee.
I think we have looked at something very important. I agree that there are a lot of cultural impacts in the fact that some children are not well protected. When I was in Swaziland, when I was in some remote areas of China, I saw children who were not protected at all on most dangerous roads. I applaud you for the great work you've done.
Likewise the global agenda, and also the influence of social networking, is equally important. However, I'd also like to look at some of the issues you brought forward in your presentations earlier.
Right now, for children, for the mothers, and also to improve their lives and to make sure that they're healthy—this is addressed to all of you—what is the role of nutrition, clean water, and inoculation in addressing maternal and child mortality? We know that in Canada those are very important issues and we were able to handle them. What about internationally? What do you think the role is in your experience?
4:40 p.m.
Coordinator, Every One Campaign, Save the Children Canada
Clearly, clean water is incredibly important. It prevents diarrheal disease, as an example. Undernutrition, malnutrition, is an underlying factor in many diseases and across the range, including pneumonia, but also HIV/AIDS, etc. It has a negative impact, obviously, across the board. Clearly, addressing undernutrition is important, and providing clean water and sanitation is important, if you're going to not only reduce these numbers but reduce them in a sustainable way moving forward.
4:40 p.m.
Executive Director, Results Canada
I would echo what Cicely has said. Nutrition is absolutely crucial, but it's part of an integrated package that must be delivered—not a single bullet, but an integrated package. Children don't just die from malnutrition; they die from a number of different things at different points. We need to ensure that it's an integrated bundle of interventions that are delivered to save lives.
4:40 p.m.
Conservative
Alice Wong Conservative Richmond, BC
Yes. I also applaud you for the beautiful graph you've produced for a household-to-hospital continuum of care, which actually is equally important in developing countries where I have worked before.
Under the household you have the mother, the newborn, the husband, the inlaws, the women, and others. Can you expand on that? How important is it that these people in developing countries will have access to well-trained medical personnel?
4:40 p.m.
Coordinator, Every One Campaign, Save the Children Canada
One of the things that you may notice we talk about in the household... That is the area in which we talk about traditional birth attendants, and community health workers can have a great impact.
An example that's very interesting is in India, where local women who were respected—who weren't health professionals, but were married ladies, as it were, and were respected within the community—were given training, went into the communities, and created women's groups, essentially, in which they shared information, taught each other, and acted as key facilitators. In those communities, the newborn mortality rate dropped by 45%.
There are a lot of examples of that. In Bangladesh we have female community health workers. In Nepal there were also female facilitators, and also in Bolivia. We see it here, actually; we see it in lactation clubs and groups that support lactation services and help each other. We see it in our public health, which we don't think of, maybe, but there are people who go out from public health and who can provide assistance with lactation counselling.
We do it here, and they can do it there. They just need some training and support to formalize it.
4:40 p.m.
Conservative
4:40 p.m.
Conservative
Alice Wong Conservative Richmond, BC
So that is your experience internationally? Those are the needs?
4:40 p.m.
Liberal
4:40 p.m.
Bloc
Nicole Demers Bloc Laval, QC
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Ladies, thank you for being here.
The World Health Organization says that for the fifth millennium development goal to be achieved, maternal mortality rates will have to decrease much faster that they did between 1990 and 2005, which means that there must be greater focus on women's health care and prevention of unwanted pregnancies and unsafe abortions, and women must be able to receive quality obstetrical care during pregnancy and childbirth.
Today, one seventh of the women in Africa die from failed or unsafe abortions or in childbirth. Nearly 1.7 million women a year have abortions that leave them injured, mutilated, unable to have children after or dead because they had children after. A total of 45,000 women die every year.
You said that was nothing to sneeze at. Don't all these women have the right to stay alive, like any woman who wants to have children, and look forward to having a child one day when they are ready to have one?
Don't you think that our goal as a country should also include ensuring that all women can live and survive pregnancy and childbirth or an abortion of an unwanted pregnancy?