Gov't, donors commit to avert maternal and child mortality

By Abou Kisige

KAMPALA - Affordable medicines with the potential to save millions of lives are reportedly not reaching children and women who most need them.

State minister for primary health care, Sarah Opendi has said government and partners are fast-tracking efforts to help increase access and demand for the 13 life-saving medicines targeting women and children aged below five.

"We want to address the persistent barriers to the production, distribution and rational usage of the 13 often overlooked life-saving commodities to prevent maternal and child mortality," she said.

She made the remarks at the national stakeholders meeting on life-saving medicines at Imperial Royale Hotel in Kampala on Monday.

The meeting was called to reflect on the progress made so far in addressing bottlenecks towards increasing access to lifesaving commodities.
 

Women and children waiting for essential medicines at Naalinya Ndagire Health Centre 111 in Kigando, Kiboga district recently. (Credit: Abou Kisige)

The medicines include oxytocin which stops mothers from bleeding after childbirth, oral rehydration salts and zinc to treat diarrhea, and antibiotics like amoxicillin to treat pneumonia in newborns.

Others are injector antibiotics, Antenatal Corticosteroid, Chlorhexidine and Resuscitation for newborn babies, Misoprostol and Magnesium Sulfate for maternal health and female condoms, implants and emergency contraception for reproductive health.

Saving lives

In 2010, United Nations Secretary General's global strategy for women and children's health highlighted the suffering of women and children caused by lack of access to life-saving commodities.

Minister Opendi said the strategy called on the global community to work together to save 16 million lives by 2015 through increasing access to and usage of essential medicines and health supplies which effectively address the leading causes of death during pregnancy, childbirth and childhood.

"Implants for example are one of the 13 life-saving commodities that the ministry of health through the UN Commission identified as items, which if accessed and properly used, could save the lives of at least six million women and children.”

She said among the challenges to be addressed include limited budgets, untimely release of funds  and ensuring that health facilities at all levels have cold chain for safety of the medicines.
 

Here, the Minister Opendi mingles with some of the participants at the meeting. (Credit: Abou Kisige)

According to the December 2014 Service Delivery Point (SDP) survey by UNFPA and World Vision, 38% of health facilities countrywide did not meet the minimum requirements for having life-saving maternal health and reproductive health drugs.

While 30% of facilities that are supposed to provide Maama Kits had stock-outs on the day of the survey because of the long time taken between ordering and receiving of supplies.

However 66.96% of the SDPs have available Maternal and Reproductive Health Medicines (Seven including 2 essential) life-saving maternal/reproductive health medicines) while 33.04% did not have the seven including the 2 essential lifesaving maternal/reproductive health medicines.

UNFPA is the administration agency for the Reproductive Maternal Newborn and Child Health (RMNCH) grant and has supported the implementation of annual surveys to track key reproductive health commodity security indicators which provide important information relevant to improving national delivery of life-saving commodities.

The country representative of UNFPA, Esperance Fundira said availability of affordable medicines, contraceptives and other health supplies is an essential part of a well-functioning health system that is able to serve people in an equitable manner.

According to World Vision, about 800 women die every day from complications of childbirth globally, including maternal bleeding and eclampsia; more than 1.3 million children die from pneumonia alone; and more than 8 million of the 136 million women who give birth each year suffer from excessive bleeding after childbirth.



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