How can we improve mothers’, chidren’s health?

Jul 21, 2010

IN the African Union Maputo Declaration 2003, member countries agreed to commit at least 15% of their annual national budget to the health sector. But on Monday, the gender, labour and social development minister, Gabriel Opio, told delegates during the opening of the 4th African Union pre-summit co

IN the African Union Maputo Declaration 2003, member countries agreed to commit at least 15% of their annual national budget to the health sector. But on Monday, the gender, labour and social development minister, Gabriel Opio, told delegates during the opening of the 4th African Union pre-summit conference on gender in Kampala that there were no funds to increase the health budget.

This is despite the fact that 16 women in the country die everyday due to pregnancy and childbirth-related complications.

Gilbert Kidimu talked to policy makers and implementers on what could be done to improve maternal and child health in the absence of sufficient funding:

Dr Frank Kaharuza, the former president of the Association of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in Uganda.
One of the biggest problems is organisation of our resources. It should be more about utilising the midwives we have than getting more midwives. The human resource allocation is important. Most midwives do not want to work upcountry in government health centres. We should, therefore, find a mechanism where midwives working upcountry in private clinics can support the government health centres.

Secondly, education is important; people need to know what maternal mortality is.
If they get to learn the value of basic things such as antenatal care, we shall go a long way. The Government should also prioritise the basic things such as equipment and drugs, for example, to curb excessive bleeding.

Dr. Moses Muwonge, a reproductive health consultant with Samasha Medical
The referral system should be made more effective to the extent that when a woman develops complications while in labour, there is a system for her to access the referral hospital.
We also need to make the system of supplying drugs more efficient so that in case a woman needs intravenous fluids, they are provided.

We need to highlight family planning as a big contributor. For every sh2,000 we spend on family planning, we save sh6,000. We should also improve on the infrastructure — at least meet the minimum requirements of health centres.

Deborah Achia, a primary health care supervisor Matany Hospital Karamoja
We need to improve on the delivery system so that women in labour do not go without medication just because it is not available. Women also need more antenatal education regarding postnatal treatment. so as to give up the backward practices. In some many cases the health centers are a far. Therefore, outreaches should be increased in these areas where health centres are far. We also need to increase the number of midwives per health centre to at least three.

Janet Jackson, a UNFPA country representative

First I must say a lot more resources are needed to improve healthcare delivery. But that aside, we need to train more midwives since they are key in service delivery. The most important area is family planning and use of contraceptives. When we look at the reasons most women in Uganda die, it is mainly because of unplanned pregnancy. This would be different if they had a choice to make. If we introduce family planning and contraceptives to them, 35% of the maternal mortality will be no more.

Norah Matovu Winyi, the director African Women’s Development and Communication Network

The resources we have can be sufficient if we prioritise the pertinent issues. First, it is imperative to provide information to the people.

Secondly, movement from their home to the medical centres should be simplified and the quality of service needs to improve; like the attitude of health workers and availability of materials. We should also make a safe environment for the mother and child. People should know how the system works

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