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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML+RDFa 1.0//EN" "http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/DTD/xhtml-rdfa-1.dtd"> <html lang="en" dir="ltr" xmlns:fb="https://ogp.me/ns/fb#" xmlns:og="https://ogp.me/ns#"> <head profile="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml/vocab"> <meta charset="utf-8"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0"> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="https://www.sil.org/sites/default/files/sil-favicon_0.ico" type="image/vnd.microsoft.icon" /> <meta name="description" content="The mortality rate for children under five years of age is reduced when vital health information about disease prevention and treatment is available in local languages. Conversely, poorly understood health information can lead to dangerous and even fatal misinformation. Ethnolinguistic communities are vulnerable to diarrhea, malaria and other common illnesses when they lack" /> <meta name="generator" content="Drupal 7 (https://www.drupal.org)" /> <link rel="canonical" href="https://www.sil.org/about/why-languages-matter/language-and-millennium-development-goals/goal-4" /> <link rel="shortlink" href="https://www.sil.org/node/827" /> <meta property="og:site_name" content="SIL Global" /> <meta property="og:type" content="article" /> <meta property="og:url" content="https://www.sil.org/about/why-languages-matter/language-and-millennium-development-goals/goal-4" /> <meta property="og:title" content="Reduce child mortality" /> <meta property="og:description" content="The mortality rate for children under five years of age is reduced when vital health information about disease prevention and treatment is available in local languages. Conversely, poorly understood health information can lead to dangerous and even fatal misinformation. Ethnolinguistic communities are vulnerable to diarrhea, malaria and other common illnesses when they lack the resources and capability to obtain essential health knowledge." /> <meta property="og:updated_time" content="2021-11-02T10:09:13-05:00" /> <meta name="twitter:card" content="summary" /> <meta name="twitter:url" content="https://www.sil.org/about/why-languages-matter/language-and-millennium-development-goals/goal-4" /> <meta name="twitter:title" content="Reduce child mortality" /> <meta name="twitter:description" content="The mortality rate for children under five years of age is reduced when vital health information about disease prevention and treatment is available in local languages. Conversely, poorly understood" /> <meta property="article:published_time" content="2012-08-13T18:11:16-05:00" /> <meta property="article:modified_time" content="2021-11-02T10:09:13-05:00" /> <title>Reduce child mortality | SIL Global</title> <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="https://www.sil.org/sites/default/files/css/css_lQaZfjVpwP_oGNqdtWCSpJT1EMqXdMiU84ekLLxQnc4.css" media="all" /> <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="https://www.sil.org/sites/default/files/css/css_EM9PzeHZt2AxxQ3R05nXINg9akBOG66G3hxOgWtlp2E.css" media="all" /> <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="https://www.sil.org/sites/default/files/css/css_y-6OGvqwgwpR259lzJYNwvxpJm3Q1qOD_DWt90goRpM.css" media="all" /> <style>.panels-flexible-new .panels-flexible-region { padding: 0; } .panels-flexible-new .panels-flexible-region-inside { padding-right: 0.5em; padding-left: 0.5em; } .panels-flexible-new .panels-flexible-region-inside-first { padding-left: 0; } .panels-flexible-new 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Conversely, poorly understood health information can lead to dangerous and even fatal misinformation. Ethnolinguistic communities are vulnerable to diarrhea, malaria and other common illnesses when they lack the resources and capability to obtain essential health knowledge.</span></p> <h2>Health information in Waama saves lives</h2> <div class="img-left"><br /> <img alt="Waama baby" class="align-left" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/baby.jpeg" style="float: left; padding: 2px; width: 250px; height: 298px;" title="Health education is ineffective when language barriers prevent access to essential information." />Basile has noticed an improvement in the overall health of people in his Waama community in Benin since the advent of literacy classes in his mother tongue. People used to have long-term illnesses, and many children died in infancy. But when people learned to read in Waama, they gained access to basic health information in their own language. Mothers learned the importance of going to health centers for prenatal check-ups and seeking treatment for illnesses. Many Waama lives are being saved because crucial health and wellness knowledge is now available in their mother tongue.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 聽</div> <div class="img-left">聽</div> <div class="img-left"> <h3>聽</h3> <h3>聽</h3> <h3>Related links</h3> <ul> <li><a href="/literacy-and-education/avian-flu-bird-flu-h5n1-avian-influenza"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;">A</span><span style="line-height: 1.5;">vian flu bird flu H5N1 and avian influenza</span></a></li> <li><a href="/about/news/fighting-avian-flu-literacy-illustrated-information-booklet-now-available-online">Fighting Avian Flu with Literacy</a></li> <li>SIL publication:聽<span class="pubtitle"><a href="/resources/publications/entry/36883" target="_blank">Ensnared by AIDS: Cultural Contexts of HIV/AIDS in Nepal</a></span></li> <li><a href="https://www.sil.org/about/why-languages-matter/language-and-millennium-development-goals/goal-2"><span class="pubtitle">New Guiding Principles for International Development</span></a></li> </ul> <p>聽</p> <p><br /> <a href="/node/606"><< BACK TO WHY LANGUAGES MATTER</a></p> </div> </div></div></div></div> </div> </div> </section> </div> </section> </div> </div> <footer class="footer"> <div class="footer-top"> <div class="container"> <div class="region region-footer"> <section id="block-panels-mini-sil-bootstrap-footer-menu" class="block block-panels-mini clearfix"> <div class="panel-flexible panels-flexible-new clearfix" id="mini-panel-sil_bootstrap_footer_menu"> <div class="panel-flexible-inside panels-flexible-new-inside"> <div class="panels-flexible-row panels-flexible-row-new-main-row panels-flexible-row-first clearfix footer-links"> <div class="inside panels-flexible-row-inside panels-flexible-row-new-main-row-inside panels-flexible-row-inside-first clearfix"> <div class="panels-flexible-region panels-flexible-region-new-column_1 panels-flexible-region-first "> <div class="inside panels-flexible-region-inside panels-flexible-region-new-column_1-inside panels-flexible-region-inside-first"> <div class="panel-pane pane-block pane-block-276 pane-block footer-logo" > <div class="pane-content"> <p><img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/sil_logo_white.png" style="width: 100px; 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