The French Muskoka Fund: origin, objectives, and implementation.

Through its Priority Solidarity Fund, France set up a partnership with four United Nations agencies, WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, and UN WOMEN for the years 2011-2015 with an annual budget of 19 M €. An additional sixth year supplementary is underway. The program was developed through a common framework of actions coordinated and harmonized at the level of the target countries: integrated management of childhood diseases, mother-child nutrition, prenatal, perinatal, and postpartum follow-up, sexual and reproductive health, and adolescent health. The contribution of WHO was based on its normative role; UNICEF offered its operational capacity in the field, and UNFPA its focus on reproductive health, while UN WOMEN dealt with gender questions. The countries targeted specifically were: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Haiti, Mali, Nigeria, Central Africa Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Senegal, Chad, and Togo.

After Muskoka.

Substantial progress has been accomplished in reducing maternal, neonatal, and infant mortality, but the work to meet the Millennium Development Goals, boosted by numerous initiatives, including Muskoka, is far from finished. Since 2016, the Sustainable Development Goals, as well as the International Strategy for Women's, Children's, and Adolescent Health 2016 - 2030, have provided to the countries and development partners a consistent framework for action enlarged to all of the dimensions of human development, while keeping women, children, and adolescents at its heart. In this context, the Muskoka program, after an initial 5-year cycle, will continue in 2017.

Zinc for diarrhoea management in Sub-Saharan Africa: a review.

OBJECTIVES: To review the evidence supporting the inclusion of zinc for diarrhoea management specifically in sub-Saharan Africa where diarrhoea remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. DATA SOURCES: We searched PubMed for studies assessing the efficacy and effectiveness of zinc for the treatment and prevention of common childhood morbidities. STUDY SELECTION: We included only studies conducted in sub-Saharan Africa. DATA SYNTHESIS: Details of studies conducted in sub-Saharan Africa are presented in the context of the global evidence supporting the use of zinc for diarrhoea management. CONCLUSIONS: There is a significant body of evidence to support the use of zinc for diarrhoea management in sub-Saharan Africa. The accelerated introduction of zinc into routine community-based diarrhoea treatment is critical for the reduction of diarrhoea morbidity and mortality.

[The unfinished agenda for child survival: what role for the integrated management of childhood illness?]. / La bataille inachevée pour la survie de l'enfant: quel rôle pour la prise en charge intégrée des maladies de l'enfant?

The endorsement by the United Nations General Assembly of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and the growing acknowledgment by the international community that child survival is an unfinished agenda created a new momentum for rapid scaling up of effective child health interventions. In this review, the authors discuss the environment in which child health programs are being implemented and the potential role of the integrated management of childhood illness (IMCI) strategy in country efforts to achieve the MDGs. The discussion is based on the conclusions of a multi-country analytic review of the IMCI strategy conducted jointly by DFID, UNICEF, USAID, and WHO as well as the results of another multi-country evaluation coordinated by the WHO on IMCI costs, effectiveness, and impact. The article concludes on the need to increase child health investments and on the potential importance of IMCI in improving child survival. However, the MDGs may not be reached if IMCI is not implemented in conjunction with other strategies to reduce mortality during the first days of life and to strengthen the health system. The authors also stress the need to increase research on mechanisms to scale up delivery of existing public health interventions.