District Governor Michel P. Jazzar Message

APRIL 2019 –MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH MONTH

6^th Rotary District 2452 Conference for more info press here

Dear friends,

1- "Maternal and child health"
Rotary International suggests one of its six areas of focus as April’s theme: "Maternal and child health".
Significant progress has been made over the last decades, but intense effort is required to make further progress in this field.

For World Health Organization (WHO), the “Mother and Child Health Cluster” (MCH) includes:

• Making pregnancy safer
• Child and adolescent health/nutrition
• Expanded program of immunization
• Prevention of mother-to-child transmission
• The MCH Cluster’s work aims at supporting the country to reduce the maternal,neonatal and under-five mortality and morbidity, so as to enhance the quality of life, by promoting the reproductive health of families and individual women, men, adolescents and children as well as by improving access to skills development, knowledge and information and services.

According to the World Health Organization reports, the infant mortality rate has decreased by 53% and the percentage of women who die at birth has decreased by 44% compared to 1990. The same reports estimated 6 million infants died in 2015, while the number of mothers who died while giving birth reached 300,000. The discrepancies between developed countries and the rest of the world point out that there is room for improvement. Infant mortality rate is higher 19 times in developing countries compared to developed countries and the probability that a child die before the age of five is higher 8 times, all else equal. The cause of death is most often related to the lack of medical assistance during childbirth, malnutrition and the consumption of infested water. One of four children suffers from starvation around the world and 45% of infant mortality is due to malnutrition.

There is also the issue of young mothers aged between 15 and 19. Statistics show that teenagers who become pregnant at a young age are often the victims of abuse, lack of freedom and lack of education. They are more prone to depression, harming themselves or abandoning their children. Different rates of economic development also contributed to the disparity of early childbirth among different countries. If in poor countries there are 130 such cases for every 1000 inhabitants, in developed countries the number drops to just 20.

The Rotary Foundation helps bring pre- and postnatal care to mothers .Our members improve access to essential medical services for mothers and their children. These efforts are aimed at reducing the number of children under age five who die each year because of malnutrition, inadequate health care, and poor sanitation – a figure that is currently estimated at 7 million.

According to another estimation, more than 80 percent of maternal deaths can be prevented with access to reproductive health services and trained health care workers. Our members provide education, immunizations, birthing kits, and mobile health clinics to support these issues. Women are taught how to prevent mother-to-infant HIV transmission, how to breast-feed, and how to protect themselves and their children from diseases. As Rotarians, we have an opportunity to be a part of the initiative for maternal and child health. We can be involved by initiating projects for young mothers, abandoned children or people who cannot afford expensive treatment. With little financial effort, we can join Global Grants implemented on the African continent. We can continue to support the Polio Plus program and contribute to eradicating this disease which until three decades ago was one of the main causes of infant mortality and paralysis.

2‐ 6^th Rotary District 2452 conference:

I would like to remind you that on the 1^st May 2019 till the 4th of May 2019, the 6^th District 2452 Conference will take place at the venue Hotel Hilton Habtoor in Beirut, Lebanon. For the first time, a Youth-Day will be organized on the 1^st of May between 2:00pm and 5:00pm, it is a free participation. The Opening Ceremony of the District Conference will start at 6:00pm (doors close), so please be there at the Conference venue at 5:15pm. See you then and thank you in advance to the Organizing Committee chaired by PP Jawad Mouawad , Rotarians, Rotaractors, Interactors, Inner-wheel and an "army" of volunteers.

With deep friendship,
Michel P. Jazzar
Governor 2018‐2019
Rotary International District 2452

Meet the DG Michel Jazzar

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Theme of the Month:

April 2019

Useful Links:

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RFC RY 2018-19

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Rotary Citation

Save the Dates:

Youth Day Pre-District Conference

1st of May 2019

6th District Conference:

1-4 May 2019, Beirut Lebanon

International Conference:

1-5 June 2019, Hamburg – Germany

Participation of RI District 2452 at RI Convention in Hamburg, as of April 2019

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D2452 Area of Focus_DAOF:

"Civic Education for Peacebuilding"

Youth is our Future

Why and how to host a Rotary Day?

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