World Health Day is a day for safer motherhood

Every year, April 7 is kept as World Health Day. This year [1998] marks the 50th anniversary of the foundation of WHO. However, the day has a double significance because the theme of this year's World Health Day is safe motherhood. All around the world people will mark this day and remind communities and leaders that there is still much work to be done to make pregnancy and childbirth safer. World leaders in Washington will be doing their part on this day, for without high-level political commitment it is hard to get things done. However, this effort is not just for a day. The whole year is dedicated to the theme of safe motherhood. Please let us know about the initiatives taking place in your country, and do send photographs] We can all do something this year to make things better for women and their newborns. Please send your stories and photos to the Editor, Safe Motherhood (address on back page). As well as the 10 action messages that were developed at the technical consultation to mark the 10th anniversary of the Safe Motherhood Initiative, fact sheets and slides are also available either by writing to WHO or on the Internet.