Editorial Women and Children First: The Impact of Sexually Transmitted Infections on Maternal and Child Health

License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. In 2000, all 189 Member States of the United Nations (UN) adopted the UN Millennium Declaration, committing them to pursue eight measurable targets, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) [1, 2] to be achieved by 2015. The MDGs were intended to: (1) eradicate severe poverty and hunger; (2) achieve universal primary education; (3) promote gender equality and empowerment of women; (4) reduce child mortality; (5) improve maternal health; (6) combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other infectious diseases; (7) ensure environmental sustainability; and (8) develop a global partnership for development. The unprecedented effort required to achieve the MDGs addresses issues and conditions especially relevant to the health and survival o