April is Maternal and Child Health Month. By prioritising Maternal and Child Health month, Rotary improves access to medical services for mothers and their children. These efforts are aimed at reducing the number of children under 5 who die each year because of malnutrition, inadequate health care and poor sanitation - a figure that is currently estimated at 7 million.
More than 80% of maternal deaths can be prevented with access to reproduction health services and trained health care workers. Rotary provides education, immunisation, birthing kits and mobile health clinics to support these causes. Women are taught how to prevent mother-to-infant HIV transmissions, how to breast feed, and how to protect themselves and their children from disease.