By Jamesa Wagwau In Melbourne, Australia
THE world is well behind meeting targets for maternal and child health outlined in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the UN Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon has said.

In a video message during the 63rd United Nations Department of Public/ Non-Governmental Organisations Conference in Melbourne, Ban Kimoon stressed the need for a human rights based approach in achieving health goals.

Debra Cerasa, the Chief Executive Officer for the Royal College of Nursing Australia, speaking at the convention, said nurses and midwives were well-placed to play leading role in the development of health care services.

“The expanding role of nurse practitioners, particularly in areas of hardship and need, is a clear example of how we can use our advanced clinical knowledge and experience to help meet the Millennium Development Goals.

Cerasa called on all governments to direct more resources into nurse education and the development of nurse-led care models.

Early this year, the health minister, Stephen Malinga attributed high maternal mortality rates in Uganda to inadequate training of health workers.

The minister in an earlier statement had said the training of health workers needed to return to health ministry if Uganda was to cut its maternal mortality rates.

The participants at the Melbourne
conference have called on governments to increase expenditure on
health training. “We call on parties at all levels to advocate for the conversion of military spending to training and retraining of health workers, teachers and infrastructure for the health and education sectors,” Dr Mary Norton the chairperson for the 63rd UN DPI/ NGO Conference said during the launch of the declaration document at the Melbourne Exhibition centre this week.

Uganda has a high maternal mortality
ratio, typical of many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, with an
estimated 505 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births.

It is approximated that each day 16 in Uganda women die during child birth, or soon after or as a result of
complications during pregnancy. While several measures to combat the poor reproductive health performance have been put in place by the government, maternal and child health programmes have in the past focused more attention on childcare programmes with a particularly strong emphasis on immunisation.

Over 2,000 participants representing over 350 NGOs are meeting at
the Melbourne Convention Centre, Australia to review the progress towards the millennium developmental goals. Under the theme; Advance Global Health: Achieve the MDGs the conference is discussing global health
as it relates to the Millennium Development Goals.

On September 20-22, the UN General
Assembly will be holding a high level MDG Summit with the objective to accelerate progress towards the
MDGs by 2015. Adopted by world leaders in the year 2000, the MDGs are tailored by each country to suit specific development needs.

They provide a framework for the international community to work together towards a common end – making sure that human development reaches everyone.