Breakthroughs in science and social organization could soon be helping to save the lives of half the 40,000 young children who now die every day. They could also prevent several million children a year from becoming mentally or physically disabled. To achieve these goals, local successes showing that a child health revolution is possible must be translated into intensive national campaigns. The challenge is now primarily political rather than technical or financial. Primary health care makes such a revolution possible; education, communication, and social organization make it practicable. Growth monitoring, oral rehydration therapy, the promotion of breast-feeding, and expanded immunization are the four techniques making this revolution affordable even in the midst of economic recession. These techniques are low cost, presently available, and almost universally relevant; in addition, they achieve rapid results and empower those they serve. Three additional but more difficult and costly interventions that could reduce child deaths and child disabilities by two-thirds within 10 or 15 years involve (1) more food for at-risk women and children during pregnancy, breast-feeding, and weaning; (2) more choice for women regarding both the size of their families and the interval between births; and (3) more education to increase women's access to vital information. (Included are brief descriptions of successes and problems of health programs in 15 countries.) (RH)