African First Ladies Forum to Tackle Maternal Health
By George Okore
NEW YORK--As part of United Nations High-level meeting on Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) in New York from September 19-20, 2011, African First Ladies and Health Ministers are hosting a side meeting on maternal health.
The side forum under the theme: Developing Your Action Plan for Women’s Health on September 22, 2011 is being organized by Princess of Africa Foundation, International Development Strategies, Vestergaard Frandsen and Women Deliver.
The meeting draws inspiration from Article 5 and 14 of African Charter on the Rights and welfare of the Child which states that every child has got a right to life and health and State parties have a duty to ensure to the maximum extent possible the fulfillment of these rights. In addition she says no woman should die while giving birth.
Women Deliver president Jill Sheffield says the forum will focus on how to improve women’s health together with officials from the World Bank and the World Health Organization, global health leaders and diplomatic community. Among the special guests include maternal health advocate, model and documentary filmmaker Christy Turlington Burns, Founder of Every Mother Counts.
Kenyan Public Health and Sanitation Minister Beth Wambui Mugo says three in five people around the world will die from the four main NCDs – cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic lung diseases and diabetes – which also cause great socioeconomic harm within all countries, particularly developing nations. She says in Africa, pregnant women are especially vulnerable and its time is now to address challenges, share success stories and plan for a healthy future for all girls and women.
Last year, African First Ladies signed the Declaration to End Maternal and Child Malnutrition, which are the major health challenges. Many African countries have not made sufficient progress towards eliminating child and maternal deaths, thus unable to meet Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) target by 2015.
Consequently, the First Ladies meeting intends to bring maternal health at the forefront of national and Pan African policy Agenda. Concerned that Africa loses many children and mothers during births, the meeting seeks to lobby African countries to provide proven packages for the treatment for the main killers of women and children.
These packages include comprehensive reproductive health service, effective ante-natal care and improving nutritional status for both the mother and child. Organizations working to reduce newborn, child and maternal deaths, including donors, national governments and others are called upon to double their annual spending on health interventions.
Under the Africa Union’s Campaign for the Accelerated Reduction of Maternal Mortality in Africa (CARMMA), all actors are also called upon to address inequalities in coverage of proven interventions between the rich and poor through equitable funding mechanism for healthcare.
The intervention is also expected to reduce death rates across income and other social groups. This will ensure social protection and food security to give the poor access to good nutrition. The initiative would particularly focus on recruiting, training and retention of frontline care providers. They are also encouraging women to become the front line health workers.