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Protecting Maternal and Child Health
 Tostan's Community Empowerment Program (CEP) teaches simple and sustainable ways that communities can improve maternal and child health. In Tostan classes, participants learn a number of relatively easy ways to greatly reduce the risks of disease and death for children and adults. For example, participants learn the importance of washing hands and dishes with soap, treating drinking water with bleach, and regularly cleaning around wells and water pumps.
After learning about the human right to health, Community Management Committees (CMCs) often launch specific initiatives to improve child and maternal health in their villages. These activities include:
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efforts to "adopt" a certain number of children to make sure that they receive their vaccinations;
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similar "adoptions" of pregnant women to assure that they go for prenatal consultations;
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awareness-raising events on the importance of vaccinations and maternal/child nutrition;
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the provision of financial support in certain villages to help women pay for prenatal check-ups;
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conducting baby-weighing sessions and distributing enriched porridge to underweight children;
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training community members on the benefits of traditional African infant massage.
Because both female genital cutting and child marriage increase the likelihood of high-risk pregnancy and childbirth, Tostan's support for the movement to end these practices has also substantially improved the health of many African women and children.
Community-led efforts in the area of maternal and child health have led to a rise in vaccination rates, an increase in attendance at prenatal consultations, better follow-up of children's health after birth, and a decline in malnourished children.
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