India’s Past or India’s Future?

By  Ben, EVERY ONE campaign director


Is India - the country with the highest number of children dying anywhere in the world investing enough in public health? 

Health spending as a percentage of GDP is a useful indicator for us to start answering this question. The World Health Organisation (WHO) stated that the global average public health spend is 5% of GDP. Canada currently spends 7%, Spain 6%, South Africa  is at 3%, Sri Lanka 2% and India is trailing near the bottom spending just 1.1% ( both states and the centre combined). It’s incredible to think that this is only just above Sweden’s aid budget which currently at 0.99% of GDP!

What about if we look at health spending per person? According to the WHO in 2009 Canada spends $3763 per person, South Africa about $715, Malaysia $544, Sri Lanka $171 and India…$86.

It is no wonder that more than 70% of all health care in India is paid for by people from their own pocket. But this is putting an increasingly heavy burden on the poor. A recent front page in the The Times of India estimated that in 2004-05, an additional 39 million people were pushed into poverty due to out-of-pocket payments.

Despite these statistics there is progress and India has some excellent schemes such as the NRHM in place but good schemes are not enough unless matched by effective implementation and budget.

Economic growth is certainly helping in India but even neighbours with slower economic growth are making faster progress on cutting child mortality. It is time for urgent action to change this.

So why spend money on health?  Because every child has the right to survive no matter the community or caste to which they are born.  Because when health improves, people have smaller families and a government has more resources per person. Because recent research evidence shows a 5% point reduction in child mortality rates is associated with a 1% point increase in economic growth over the following decade.  Because thousands of parents will lie awake tonight across India having lost a child to preventable illnesses and disease. And quite frankly because the Indian Government promised to spend 2-3% on health and still haven’t delivered.

The question facing the Minister of Finance and the Government of India is whether the high levels of child and maternal mortality are part of India’s past or India’s future. The Government will give an answer to this question on Friday in the budget.  

At the Chief Minister’s residence

By Pragya, EVERY ONE team

Sometimes working behind the scenes can be as interesting as being on the frontlines. This was a big moment for Save the Children India’s EVERYONE campaign: a reception hosted by Ms Sheila Dikshit, chief Minister of Delhi, India’s capital, at her residence.

So there we were, the two of us, ensuring lights, sounds, camera for the EVERY ONE event while her office staff were preparing for the evening dinner, making sure everything was in keeping with the stature of the head of the state.

While the Chief Minister (CM) runs the state, there is an efficient team running her office, including security, logistics and administrative staff, a press office and her personal assistant. They are all powerful in their own ways, sharing a closeness of trust with the seat of power.

Whiskey (yes, that’s what the CM’s dog is called), came prancing around as we set things up. Her daughter accompanied the dog with an offer of fresh lime juice— welcome respite to the sweltering heat.

Before the delegates arrived, we had to brief the Chief Minister about the EVERY ONE campaign, aimed at stopping children under the age of five dying from easily preventable causes. She graciously ambled out of her living room to meet the event/ campaign managers. Yes, that was my five minutes of fame with the CM.

Guests started pouring in, including Ambassadors, CEOs of Save the Children Member countries, corporate honchos and us, to the well-lit lawn.

The chief minister led every one present to sign up their support to the campaign. Placing her thumbprint on a specially-erected wall aimed at mobilizing messages of support for EVERY ONE, the Chief Minister joked that she wouldn’t normally put her thumbprint on a blank wall but was making an exception in this case considering it was a pledge of support to save the lives of children. Her message: “Save our planet, Save the children – Every One of them.”

EVERY ONE making a noise with school children

By Rajdeep, EVERY ONE team


June 19, New Delhi: Save the Children in association with The Tehelka Foundation is reaching out to schools with EVERY ONE. On the hot Saturday evening a group of kids joined hands together to make some noise, a noise to wake up Delhi to issues which “we” blissfully want to be oblivious of. This group consisted of children from contrasting social backgrounds- a homogeneous mix of students of Bluebells School International, an elite school in a posh south Delhi locality and children from Salam Balak Trust, an NGO working with street children in and around New Delhi railway station. These children were brought together and provided with training in street theatre by The Tehelka Foundation, an NGO working on social equity and justice.

With the sun still beating down hard, the excited bunch of children made their way into Dilli Haat, a popular handicrafts bazaar in the heart of Delhi. These children with their infectious energy spread themselves to every nook and cranny of Dilli Haat ushering people to gather around to watch their play with the chant “aao aao, natak dekho” (come with us and watch the play). As the play progressed, the group had managed to gather an audience of about 100-120 in number. The audience included Tarun Tejpal, Editor-in-chief of Tehelka magazine with his wife, representatives from Unicef and Save the Children. 

The street theatre focussed on several issues such as maternal health, child mortality, state of the girl child, female foeticide, family planning, child labour and the plight of the street children. But more importantly, it stressed on the fact that these are not “their” problems and it not just affects “them”, it is “us”. EVERY ONE of us has an important role in addressing these issues. One of the children played the role of a mother who had lost her child because of diarrhoea, establishing the fact that diarrhoea is one of the major causes of child mortality in our country. Another group of children played the role of a family with an expecting mother showing the importance of prenatal care. The audience laughed at the mimicries of the Bollywood actors and occasionally paused with a deep silence as the hard-hitting messages were conveyed by the children in a subtle and simple language. The tapestry of humour juxtaposed with serious messages engaged and enthralled the audience. 

The play culminated with the children reaching out to the audience and distributing leaflets with the key messages of the EVERY ONE campaign. The warmth of the applauding audience more than made up for the unrelenting Delhi heat. So much so, that the excited children repeated the performance at the entrance of Dilli Haat gathering an even bigger audience around them.

Dilli Haat was the first in the series of venues for the street theatre by The Tehelka Foundation. In the month ahead, these children will reach out to more public places such as malls, markets, university campuses; slum clusters and colonies in and around Delhi, making a noise that EVERY ONE of us can save a child’s life.