The overall goal of the Symposium is to engage the general and professional communities in discussion about the "silent emergencies" that kill millions of children across the globe while receiving little or no public attention. Many of these "quiet killers" have simple, practical solutions that we hope to inspire concerned students, citizens, and healthcare providers to invent, advance, or support. At the end of this Symposium, participants will be able to:

• Identify the global and national public health problems that qualify as major "silent emergencies" killing the world's children.
• Discuss how organizations and individuals are organizing to implement simple solutions.
• Describe programmatic advances around the world, with childhood diseases such as pneumonia and diarrhea as well as persisting problems, with an emphasis on Asia.
• Discuss progress in Kosovo "helping babies breathe", by assisting with the first breath of life in resource poor areas.
• Describe nurses' global efforts "to care for any baby, any time, anywhere."
• Report a new unifying approach for infant survival, growth and development from pre-pregnancy through the perinatal period.