Child Health Awareness Day launched in Limpopo and Free State

Save the Children have partnered with the Department of Health (DOH) to launch Child Health Awareness Days (CHADs) across Limpopo and the Free State. They hold eight CHADs a year, educating caregivers on pregnancy care, infant and young child feeding, and early detection of malnutrition. Children attending will also receive necessary health services such as deworming and Vitamin A doses, delivered in conjunction with the DoH. The CHADs are just one activity of a wide-ranging collaboration between GSK and SCSA, under the umbrella project Sireletsa Bana (translated as “Protect the children”).

The community leaders are pleased that the project is improving healthcare infrastructure as well as education and awareness for frontline staff, which is a critical step in reaching a large portion of the community, and changing behaviour.

“SCSA is deeply invested in this project and are aligned with our valued global partner, GSK, because through their support we were able to improve the lives of tens of thousands,” says Gugu Ndebele, CEO of Save the Children. “With what we’ve created through collaboration so far, we can see that the positive impact of this project is making an immediate impact on society and is sustainable, and we look forward to another year of educating, empowering and strengthening our communities.” There has also been sustained and continued education of breastfeeding support groups, in order to offer help to new mothers, and extend the length of their breastfeeding.

The Sireletsa Bana project is just one of GSK’s initiatives, and forms part of a global partnership with Save the Children to help improve the lives of the world’s poorest children.

The Global partnership between GSK and Save the Children was formed in 2013 and has been globally noted for its excellence in social impact work. The partnership has combined GSK’s scientific and manufacturing expertise with Save the Children’s on-the-ground experience to find new ways to help bring down the number of children dying from preventable and treatable diseases.

The two organisation’s shared ambition is clear: no child under five should die from preventable causes. Together, through this partnership we have reached over 2,800,000 children under five in 45 countries, and met head on some of the main causes of preventable child deaths – including treating over 187,800 children for malaria, pneumonia, or diarrhoea.