Namibia Child Survival Strategy 2014 - 2018.

The Child Survival Strategy is a subsectoral framework designed to accelerate reductions in maternal, newborn, and child morbidity and mortality in line with national and international targets. It seeks to expand the sustained delivery of high-impact, cost-effective health and nutrition interventions across all levels of care. The strategy sets specific mortality reduction goals, including lowering under-five mortality from 54 (2013) to 39 by 2015, 24 by 2018, and below 20 by 2035; infant mortality from 39 to 18 by 2018; neonatal mortality from 20 to 10 by 2018; and maternal mortality from 358 to 200 by 2018 and 50 by 2035. It also prioritizes improving access to quality maternal and child health services, strengthening the capacity of health workers, enhancing monitoring and evaluation systems, and promoting inter-sectoral coordination. Implementation focuses on scaling up high-impact interventions through three delivery approaches: community-based services, scheduled population-based services, and individual clinical care. The Strategy sets out the following Specific Objectives (i) improve access to quality essential health care for mothers and children at the community level and in health facilities; (ii) ensure the sufficient provision of pharmaceuticals, equipment and commodities; (iii) build the capacity of the health workers to organize and manage child health services; (iv) increase the capacities of the families and communities to undertake appropriate child survival activities within their homes and communities; (v) strengthen health information, monitoring and evaluation systems that will support advocacy for child health and enable the tracking of progress towards achieving stated targets and Vision 2030; (vi) promote and support multi-sectoral approach to child survival.
The Strategy sets out a package of high-impact interventions to be scaled up through an integrated delivery approach, covering maternal and newborn care (including antenatal care, skilled delivery, obstetric and neonatal emergency services, and postnatal care), child nutrition (exclusive breastfeeding, appropriate complementary feeding, micronutrient supplementation, and growth monitoring), and treatment of common childhood illnesses (oral rehydration therapy with zinc, antibiotics for pneumonia and dysentery, and improvements in water and sanitation). It also includes HIV-related interventions such as prevention of mother-to-child transmission, early infant diagnosis, prophylaxis for exposed children, and antiretroviral treatment for mothers and children, alongside continued support for malaria control and expanded immunization, including new vaccines like IPV and HPV. To support implementation, the Strategy focuses on strengthening the health system to improve access and coverage, while empowering families and communities to adopt better childcare practices and seek timely care. It further emphasizes stronger coordination between community-based services and health facilities to ensure continuity and quality of care. Broader implementation is reinforced through multi-sectoral partnerships, sustained advocacy and resource mobilization, and the use of evidence from research, monitoring, and evaluation to guide decisions and improve performance.