Mr. Speaker, Canada marked World Health Day 2005 with an announcement by the hon. Minister of International Cooperation of a $90 million pledge to improve maternal and child health in developing countries.
It is a sad fact that each year in the developing world well over 10 million children die and half a million women die from pregnancy related causes. Tragically, most of these lives could be saved through intervention and programs aimed at promoting child and maternal health.
Canada's commitment includes almost $50 million to programs that will improve child health in Africa and an additional $40 million in support of specified programs in Bangladesh and Nigeria.
These new initiatives reflect Canada's ongoing commitment to achieving the millennium development goals, which aim to reduce poverty, hunger and child mortality by 2015.