Speaking at a health conference in Norway on Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced the U.S. would provide $75 million toward a new public-private effort, dubbed “Saving Mothers, Giving Life,” which aims “to improve the health of mothers and their babies in developing countries,” Agence France-Presse reports (Mannion, 6/2). “At the same conference, Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr said Norway would devote up to about $80 million to the effort, whose partners include drug maker Merck & Co. and nonprofit Every Mother Counts,” Reuters writes (Mohammed, 6/1). “Starting in Uganda and Zambia, [the initiative] is focusing on helping mothers during labor, delivery, and during the first 24 hours after a birth, when two of every three maternal deaths occur and 45 percent of newborn deaths occur,” VOA News reports (Stearns, 6/1).

“The initiative draws from both funds and the experience from the U.S. international AIDS response programs to focus on what proponents say is a key health care challenge with broad implications for societies as a whole,” AFP notes (6/2). “It was developed to strengthen district health services by building clinics and labs, training staff, improving supply chains, ensuring safe blood supplies and improving record-keeping systems,” United Press International adds (6/1).