The 2015 deadline for the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals is rapidly approaching, and yet there are still 9.7 million children under the age of five that die each year. The world’s poorest households are particularly stricken with high child mortality rates due to lack of access to disease treatment and other health services. Reaching these children remains a challenge as most countries lack, or struggle to provide, the support systems necessary to achieve high-quality health care delivery at the scale of community-based illness treatment. Moreover, some countries do not support the delivery of services by community health volunteers, or may restrict the services that they can deliver.

MCHIP & Child Health
Despite this grim situation, nearly two-thirds of child deaths could be prevented though an integrated package of simple, inexpensive interventions that combine effective preventive actions with case management of illnesses. Those outside of the formal health system—such as community health workers--can facilitate access to illness treatment and other services. MCHIP is committed to the fourth Millennium Development Goal of reducing child mortality by two-thirds and works with partners at the global, national and local levels to expand access to case management and preventative interventions aimed at saving children’s lives. 

 Delivery Strategies

A) Integrated Management of Childhood Illnesses (IMCI)
I) What is this delivery strategy?
Integrated Management of Childhood Illness is a health care delivery strategy that aims to improve family and community health practices, health care staff management skills, and overall health systems. It includes both preventative and curative elements.
II) Why is this delivery strategy needed?
Where children are suffering from multiple conditions, an integrated strategy is necessary to address the health of the whole child, rather than treating a single ailment.

B) Community Case Management (CCM)
I) What is this delivery strategy?
Community case management is an inexpensive yet cost-effective service delivery strategy in which low-skilled volunteers or paid health workers provide preventative knowledge and frontline treatments to fellow community members.
II) Why is this delivery strategy needed?
This strategy encourages both disease prevention and early treatment of symptoms, which reverses the trend of patients seeking medical attention from more formal outlets at advanced stages of disease.