Today a new bipartisan bill, The Reach Every Mother and Child Act, was introduced to the Senate by Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Chris Coons (D-Del). The Reach Every Mother and Child Act will build upon decades-old work of the United States being a leader on drastically reducing maternal, newborn, and child mortality. In fact, this new bill will help save the lives of 15 million children and 600,000 women by 2020.

The Collins-Coons bill would coordinate a U.S. government strategy to end preventable maternal, newborn and child deaths. It would require bold targets to be set, tracked and annually reported on, focusing on the poorest and most vulnerable populations. Additionally, the bill would improve coordination among the U.S. government agencies, relevant foreign governments, international organizations and other partners. It would also create new innovative public-private financing mechanisms to complement and leverage strong bilateral U.S. investments.

“The United States has an unprecedented opportunity to accelerate its leadership and fulfill its promise to help end preventable maternal, newborn and child deaths within a generation,” said Mark Shriver, president of the Save the Children Action Network. “Working with other countries, international organizations and private partners, we can save millions of additional lives. Developing countries have the highest rate of moms and babies dying from preventable causes. This new bill can change this sobering fact by investing in and scaling up proven and inexpensive solutions that save lives.”

UN Photo/Marco Dormino