Topic: Reducing Infant Mortality
Country: Portugal
Delegate Name: Mia Holmgren
School: Mattawan High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Portugal position papers GLIMUN 2015 committees
Infant mortality has long been used as a measure of a nation’s overall health. After all, a nation cannot continue to exist if its future citizens never reach six years old. Portugal believes that nearly all infant mortality can be prevented in the modern world. Most infant deaths at birth go unrecorded, and thus, the statistics we do have could be huge underestimations. That being said, Portugal is in good company with an infant mortality rate in the same range as the United Kingdom, Australia, and Taiwan. Portugal boasts a lower infant mortality rate than the United States, one of the most developed countries in the world. Still, there is more that can be done in lowering the infant mortality rate worldwide and in Portugal, also. Most of the issues which result in infant death could be remedied if more attention was paid to providing life-saving care to infants and mothers immediately after birth. The care needed is low-tech and low-cost and can be provided in even the most developing countries if its importance is recognized and addressed. The more prevalent causes of under-five deaths are a lack of attention paid to curable diseases such as pneumonia. An appalling number of children die simply because caregivers don’t bring their charges in for appropriate treatment. Also, infections transferred from mother to child are not addressed, and the infant mortality rate rises. One of the Millennium Development Goals set forth by the United Nations is achieving a low infant mortality rate. Portugal, most likely along with countries such as the United Kingdom, Denmark, Taiwan, and Poland, seeks to lower infant mortality rates by standardizing infant and mother care at birth, preventing almost half of under-five deaths. We wish to ensure that midwives both in the home and in hospitals are fully trained and that this care is provided to all mothers. Also, it must be impressed upon all the importance of low to no-cost health care being available to families if a child falls ill, as well as making them aware of the symptoms to watch for in their offspring which may become deadly. This should be a priority for all countries, as it is the only way to improve the health and strength of a nation, and, overall, the world.
