The Task Force for Global Health is pleased to announce that the Program Office of the Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance (CHAMPS) program joined The Task Force in July. CHAMPS is a global surveillance network that uses data-driven science to reduce preventable child deaths.
Prior to joining The Task Force, the CHAMPS Program Office was housed at Emory University’s Global Health Institute, working in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and The Task Force’s Public Health Informatics Institute. Launched in 2015 and funded by the Gates Foundation, CHAMPS generates and shares accurate information on causes of stillbirths and child deaths in high-mortality settings in Africa and South Asia. Africa and South Asia account for 82% of under-five child mortality worldwide.
“We are thrilled to strengthen our partnership with the Task Force for Global Health as CHAMPS enters its crucial third phase. This partnership represents a powerful collaboration, uniting our commitment to using research excellence to empower families, communities and policymakers, with the Task Force’s renowned expertise in global health operations and network effectiveness,” said Dr. Cynthia Whitney, Principal Investigator and Program Director of CHAMPS. “This collaboration will accelerate our work to identify and track definitive causes of stillbirth and child mortality using cutting-edge diagnostics and generate the information needed to improve maternal and child health in regions with high disease burden.”
In 2024, 4.8 million children under the age of five died worldwide. For a decade, CHAMPS’ work has been empowering parents, communities, partners and policymakers to save young lives. This contributes to Sustainable Development Goal 3.2, which aims to “By 2030, end preventable deaths of newborns and children under five years of age, with all countries aiming to reduce neonatal mortality and under‑five mortality.”
CHAMPS data has revealed that about eight of every 10 deaths were from preventable causes:
- Causes of death differ by age group, but late or poor-quality care are a common thread
- Untreated pregnancy and delivery complications, rather than a medical condition in the infant, account for seven out of every 10 stillbirths
- Leading causes of deaths in newborns are:
- Infections from multidrug-resistant Klebsiella pneumonia, a bacteria acquired in neonatal units
- Complications of prematurity and delivery
- Seven of every 10 deaths in infants and children are from multiple conditions occurring together; eight of 10 have at least one infectious disease
- Severe malnutrition is a common underlying cause of death in infants and children, often leading to fatal infections like pneumonia, malaria and diarrhea
- HIV causes many infant and child deaths in communities where the virus circulates among adults; half of all child HIV diagnoses where CHAMPS operates are only discovered through CHAMPS’ postmortem testing
The Task Force’s Public Health Informatics Institute (PHII) has been the lead partner responsible for the CHAMPS data network since the program’s inception. PHII designs and builds the information technology network needed to support CHAMPS and has been responsible for developing all of the IT infrastructure, as well as maintaining it and enhancing it for this program.
“I am truly delighted to welcome our colleagues at the CHAMPS Program Office to the Task Force,” said Dr. Patrick O’Carroll, President and CEO of The Task Force for Global Health. “Our organization was founded in 1984 for the express purpose of reducing childhood mortality from vaccine-preventable diseases. Now, with innovative tools, rich data, and broad, powerful partnerships, the CHAMPS program brings us full circle to that first, critically important priority: ensuring that every child has a chance at a healthy life.”
For more than 40 years, The Task Force for Global Health has worked with partners in more than 150 countries to address the world’s most serious and pressing threats to global health and strengthen the systems that protect and promote health. Task Force programs eliminate diseases, ensure access to vaccines and essential medicines, and strengthen health systems to protect populations.
As a program of The Task Force, CHAMPS will expand its reach, collect timely data, and continue to work with local, national, and global health leaders to advance policies and interventions to prevent maternal and child mortality in Africa and South Asia.
