The head’s office of Chisinau’s Centru district has launched the “Safe Childhood” programme, part of the National Communication Campaign in the field of child’s health in the first year of life, Info-Prim Neo reports. During a round table meeting on Tuesday, February 5, deputy manager of the Centru Medical Territorial Association, Elena Robu, talked about how important is for parents to know the first symptoms of children’s illnesses and the necessity of calling a doctor at the first signs of a malady. These two steps can save a baby’s life. The first symptoms of an illness include lethargy, chills, fever, paleness, difficult and frequent breathing, repeated vomiting and melaena. The main causes which lead to the death of children under 5 are acute respiratory diseases, diarrhoea, infectious diseases and inadequate nutrition, the doctor said. These can be prevented by simple interventions, such as curing the pneumonia with antibiotics, oral rehydration with salt to control diarrhoea, vaccination, breastfeeding of the newborns in their first 4-6 months of life. Representatives of the civic society, students from the medical and pedagogic colleges from Chisinau, economic entities took part in the round table meeting. They have been encouraged by the representatives of the district head’s office to support the communication campaign and to participate in spreading the messages and informative materials regarding the child’s health. The Centru district head’s office will organise a number of outdoor informational actions, head of Centru Division for Children’s Rights Protection, Angela Ganea said. Information materials will be distributed (guides, leaflets, calendars), seminars and photo exhibitions will be held. In February-April socially vulnerable nursing mothers will receive powder milk. The National Communication Campaign in the field of Child’s Health in the First Year of Life “Safe Childhood” was launched in December 2007 by the Health Ministry, with the support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation in Moldova, and is a follow-up to the Campaign “For a Charming and Healthy Baby”, implemented in 2006. In 2006, Moldova’s child mortality rate was 12.4, which is lower than in Romania (16.84), but higher than in Russia (11.54), Ukraine (9.42), Lithuania (7.89), and the European Union (4.75). Moldovan statistics show that 42% of the infant deaths occur in the first week of life, while 68% in the first month. About 20% of the children that die in the first year of life die at home.