Minorities Suffer Worse Health Outcomes

Posted on by 施達基金會

[ePrayer – Pray for the health of minorities]

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Minority groups suffer worse health outcomes than the rest of the population, according to a new report published by Minority Rights Group International (MRG). They call for greater measures to combat disparities in global health outcomes between minority groups and majority communities. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have resulted in much that is good. But one of the fundamental flaws with them has been the lack of a right or equity perspective. Minority and indigenous communities often are marginalised from all aspects of life in their countries. For example, infant mortality among indigenous groups in China’s Yunnan Province was 7.8%, compared to 5.4% for non-indigenous groups in Yunnan and a national average of 2.6%. In Papua, Indonesia, HIV infection rates among minority groups are 15 times the national average. In Guatemala, indigenous children suffer approximately 20 percent higher malnutrition than majority communities. According to the report, lack of access to healthcare and systemic patterns of discrimination are major causal factors behind these figures. [IRIN]

Pray for the health of minorities:

  • Pray for sufficient and proper health care and assistance to the minorities;
  • Pray for an end on any kind of discrimination to minorities and indigenous groups.

Breastfeeding Saves Babies’ Lives

Posted on by 施達基金會

[ePrayer – Pray for Breastfeeding Campaign]

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Save the Children launched a campaign ‘Superfood for Babies’. It is a global call to action to rediscover the importance of breastfeeding and to support mothers to breastfeed their babies – especially in the poorest communities in the poorest countries. Breastfeeding is one of the best ways to tackle malnutrition; a simple, natural way to boost a baby’s immune system. If all babies were breastfed in the first hour after birth, the new report said, the lives of 95 babies would be saved every single hour – 830,000 a year. If babies receive Colostrum – the mother’s first milk – within an hour of birth, it will kick start the child’s immune system, making them three times more likely to survive. The four major barriers that prevent mothers from breastfeeding are also examined in the report: community and cultural pressures, the shortage of health workers, lack of maternity legislation, inappropriate promotion of breast-milk substitutes.  [Super Food for Babies, Guardian]

Pray for Breastfeeding Campaign:

  • Pray that breastfeeding can be better promoted. More babies can receive the first milk to increase their survival rate; 
  • Pray that the governments, international institutions and multinational companies can work together to ensure that every infant is given the life-saving protection that breastfeeding can offer.