Sanusi to World Leaders: Act Now to End 5m Annual Child Deaths

The Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, has called on world leaders to intensify efforts to halt the avoidable deaths of about five million children recorded globally every year.

Sanusi made the appeal on Monday at the Gates Foundation’s Goalkeepers event, stressing that human life is sacred and must be treated as the collective responsibility of leaders worldwide.

According to him, developed nations must show greater solidarity by supporting low and middle-income countries to sustain progress in tackling child mortality, hunger, and malnutrition.

“In Islam, all human life is sacred. The Quran says whoever takes a human life unjustly is as one who has killed all of humanity, and whoever saves one life is as one who has saved all of humanity,” the monarch said.

“Given this perspective and the equality of all lives, the fact that millions of children are daily exposed to death, hunger, and malnutrition should be a matter of utmost concern to humanity,” he added.