Discussing ways of improving maternal and newborn health in the developing world is incomplete without mention of the MDGs (a programme conceived in good faith but in Nigeria it is rather a means of siphoning money at the expense of the common man).
Among the objectives of the MDGs, the fifth (5) cardinal objective is improving maternal health and could further be sub-divided into 5a and 5b as briefly discussed below:
5a): to reduce maternal mortality ratio by three quarters between 1990 – 2015
5b): to achieve universal access to reproductive health by 2015.
In Nigeria and some few developing countries, achieving these targets is best described as a mirage as admitted last year that although much has been achieved to date, reducing maternal mortality ratio by three quarters within the time period could not be possible.
It is on record that up to 358 000 women die each year in pregnancy and childbirth and most of them die because they had no access to skilled routine and emergency care. Although some Asian and North Africa countries were able to cut by more than half maternal mortality, the story is somehow different in sub-Saharan Africa as progress made is not encouraging considering the amount of money sunk into the MDG programme.
In the developed world, a woman’s life time risk of dying during or following pregnancy is 1 in 4300. This figure when compared with the developing countries (of especially sub-Saharan Africa) is totally scaring as the risk of maternal death is very high at 1 in 31.
These days especially with increase level of advocacy and awareness, the numbers of women now seeking care during childbirth in health facilities is rising hence the need to ensure that quality of care provided is optimal.
Achieving universal access to reproductive health by 2015 as enshrined in the MDG cardinal goals is of utmost importance. At the moment, some 215 million women who would prefer to delay or avoid pregnancy still lack access to safe and effective contraception. It is estimated that satisfying the unmet need for family planning alone could cut the number of maternal deaths by almost a third.
The UN Secretary-General’s Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health aims to prevent 33 million unwanted pregnancies between 2011 and 2015 and to save the lives of women who are at risk of dying of complications during pregnancy and childbirth, including unsafe abortion.
WHO key working areas are:
• Strengthening health systems and promoting interventions focusing on policies and strategies that work, are pro-poor and cost-effective.
• Monitoring and evaluating the burden of maternal and newborn ill-health and its impact on societies and their socio-economic development.
• Building effective partnerships in order to make best use of scarce resources and minimize duplication in efforts to improve maternal and newborn health.
• Advocating for investment in maternal and newborn health by highlighting the social and economic benefits and by emphasizing maternal mortality as human rights and equity issue.
• Coordinating research, with wide-scale application, that focuses on improving maternal health in pregnancy and during and after childbirth.
I hope to discuss more in my next write-up. Keep a date with me!
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I guess we (ie the third world countries) are not any far towards reducing both maternal and newborn mortality/morbidity rates. Looks like the so called ‘third world’ countries have similar problems: outright corruption!
Although the story is bit different in India in view of the fact much progress has been recorded towards achieving the MDG goals it is my believe that much is yet to be done. Keep putting flames at the buttocks of leaders in Nigeria (and other African countries alike) to ensure that they live up to what is expected of them. Kudos!