Robbing family planning to fund child survival: undermining women and children.

The bill entitled "Save the Children Act" would transfer $100 million from the US Agency for International Development's (USAID) population aid program, which centers primarily on family planning and female reproductive health, to a separately funded child survival program. Although the bill increases the support on child survival efforts, it demonstrates indifference towards the importance of birth timing and spacing. Together with its actions aimed at jeopardizing the program that seeks to ensure the health of the mothers, the bill is considered to do more harms than good. USAID has stated that it will pursue its support for birth spacing efforts under the child survival program, but will not use child survival funds in purchasing contraceptives. It was further stressed that the population and child survival program are interdependent, and not in competition with each other. However, the Global Health Council opposed the passing of the bill. They view the proposed fund transfer as an attack on family planning rather than a boost for child survival. Their message was to increase funding for both interventions, so as to improve, not just the lives of children, but the mothers as well.