Inaugural Maternal and Neonatal Survival Initiative summit.
AB Wire
WASHINGTON, DC: American India Foundation (AIF) will hold its inaugural Maternal and Neonatal Survival Initiative (MANSI) Summit at the Conference Center, Merck Research Laboratories, Boston, Massachusetts, on April 18.
The summit will promote awareness of the maternal and neonatal health challenges in India and highlight the work that AIF is doing to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality in remote areas of Jharkhand.
This event will bring together AIF supporters, academic leaders, foundations, pharmaceutical companies, and organizations working in the MCH field to promote awareness of Maternal and Neonatal health challenges in India.
“We hope to generate new ideas, learn from other regions in the world and build new partnerships (corporate, global, government, philanthropic and academic) to help extend our reach to new regions in India. Building on the initial successes in Jharkhand, AIF plans to expand the MANSI project to areas of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Orissa where the NMR and MMR are unacceptably high,” Dr. Sunita Pereira, chair of the conference, said.
Speakers for the summit include Dr. Gary Darmstadt, Professor of Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine and former Senior Fellow and Director of Family Health, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Dr. Srinath Reddy, MD, President, Public Health Foundation of India and Sunil Bhaskaran, Deputy Vice President, Corporate Services, TATA Steel.
According to UNICEF, nearly a quarter of all maternal deaths worldwide occur in India. MANSI, a program of AIF, utilizes a public-private partnership model to provide the resources and support required to empower local communities to care for their mothers and children while improving the local health system.
Working closely with local communities, AIF partners with NGOs to develop and test innovative solutions and with governments to create and scale sustainable impact. Founded in 2001, at the initiative of President Bill Clinton following a request from Prime Minister Vajpayee, AIF has impacted the lives of more than two million of India’s poor and aims to reach five million by 2018.