A World Health Organisation led team has declared that networks are much needed in the promotion of maternal and infant health.

“Creating stronger advocacy partnerships within the health domain, and between health and other related sectors, is required to deliver the vision of the sustainable development goals.”

The report states that coalitions require cost effective “information circuits” that spread new evidence to help local organisations advocate for change. The report predicts an even greater need for this kind of connectivity as the number and distribution of partners seeking to collaborate increases.

“When geared to local needs and priorities, and properly promoted for use, innovative web and mobile phone based approaches hold much promise, including in relation to advocacy, communication, and coalition development.”

These are encouraging words for the Family Included network as it seeks to grow and spread the capacity to implement the family inclusive practices recently recommended by the World Health Organisation.

Family Included now has members in 31 countries: Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, Colombia, Ethiopia, Ghana, Haiti, India, Japan, Kenya, Lao, Malawi, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Switzerland, Tanzania, Trinidad & Tobago, Uganda, UK & USA.

McDougall L et al. (2015), Prioritising women’s, children’s, and adolescents’ health in the post-2015 world, BMJ

Photo: Paul Downey. Creative Commons.