Afronline – The Voice Of Africa

Civil society campaigners attending the African Union Summit in Kampala, Uganda are seeking new investments in stopping the deaths of women and children, which is the main issue slated for discussion by the African leaders.

In a report entitled Countdown to 2015 Decade Report (2000-2010), the campaign network, made of UN agencies and independent research institutions involved in the fight against maternal deaths, outlines several strategies needed to end these deaths.

Civil society campaigners have called for an investment of US$32 billion to help improve the status of African women. Money to be used in the antenatal care, emergency care at the time of birth, post-natal care, treatment of childhood illnesses, and immunization, among others this achievement would bring most African countries in line with MDGs 4 and 5, which call for reducing the number of deaths among children under 5 by two thirds, and reducing maternal deaths by three-quarters by 2015.

The continent also has the world’s lowest average life expectancy, experiences the highest proportional yearly increases in communicable diseases, and faces an ever-growing burden of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, cancer and heart disease.

Countdown to 2015, a global scientific and advocacy movement, tracks progress in maternal and children health in 68 high-burden countries, where more than 95% of all maternal and child deaths occur.

An Open letter by 10 African celebrities

An open letter signed by 10 African celebrities, written to Prime Minister Meles Zenawi as well as many African leaders, called the continent’s performance in maternal and child health scandalous for the continent, the future of which lies with women and children.

The letter, signed by the likes of Haile Gebrselassie, record setting athlete; Liya Kebede, model and actress who started a foundation under her name; and Desmond Tutu, archbishop emeritus of South Africa, was sent to about 25 heads of state, addressing each individually.

The letter, written under the logos of seven NGOs, including Oxfam and Save the Children, deplored the continent’s performance in the fourth and fifth Millennium Development Goals (MDG) which aims to reduce maternal and infant mortality by 2015.

The NGOs called on Meles to ensure that the promise to spend at least 15pc of the country’s budget on healthcare, made in Abuja, were kept.

Ethiopia is far from achieving that figure. It spent 2.1 billion Br, only 3.2pc of the national budget of the just ended fiscal year and plans to spend 3.1 billion Br, 3.9pc of the budget this year.

The extension of the Maputo Plan of Action, which expires this year, is one of the issues slated to be discussed at the summit.

We call on you to seize this opportunity and keep your promise to Africa’s mothers and children,” the letter said. “No woman should die giving life. Every child should survive. Everyone has a role to play.”

Investing in the health of mothers and children is the future of Africa

An International Nongovernmental Organization, Save the Children urged the leaders at summit under the them: “Maternal, Infant and Child Health and Development in Africa” to recognize that investing in maternal and child health is critical to economic development of their countries, said a statement issued here.

Investing in the health of mothers and children is an investment in the development and future of Africa. If mothers die in childbirth, they can not be productive,” said Chikezie Anyanwu, the Africa’s advocacy advisor for Save the Children.

“If children don’t get a health start in life, research shows they won’t do as well in school, earn as much, or reach their full potential to support their country’s development,” she said.

During the debate, the organization said Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni appeared to suggest that investment to help expand the economy had to come before the “social expenditures”.

In Africa, one in every 16 women dies during child delivery and every minute, eight children die, including two newly born babies, from preventable disease.

The vast majority of Africa’s annual 4.5 million newborn and child deaths and 265,000 maternal deaths are preventable, according to the organization.

By Staff - Afronline