As a development professional in the areas of education and well-being, I often meet vulnerable people. During interviews with children and their mothers in the Philippines last year, I learned that children often fell sick, not only negatively affecting the child, but also the family’s finances, leading them to perpetual debt.

I am proud that the U.S. has been a global leader in helping to save the lives of mothers and children from preventable causes such as pneumonia or diarrhea. Still, every day, 16,000 children continue to die from preventable causes and 800 women still die from complications of pregnancy and childbirth. Fortunately, there is a solution.

The Reach Every Mother and Child Act (Reach Act) is bipartisan legislation that would help expand proven solutions to end these deaths within a generation. Moreover, the bill would introduce new financing mechanisms to bring new investors to the table.

This legislation offers the U.S. a unique opportunity to accelerate its leadership and fulfill its promise to help end preventable maternal and child deaths.

I urge Rep. Adam Smith to cosponsor the Reach Act when it is reintroduced in the House because mothers’ and children’s health have positive impact on the entire society.

Raluca Herman

Bellevue