AU Workshop on Maternal, Newborn and Child Mortality Reviews
16 April 2008
Programme Director
Officials of the AU
Representatives of all AU member states
Representatives of the UN Agencies
Ladies and Gentlemen
Good Afternoon,
I am sure that we will all agree that the past three days provided a great opportunity for us to review and share our experiences in addressing the challenges of maternal, newborn and under-five mortality.
We gathered here in Johannesburg as representatives of the African Union member states and partners to harmonise the maternal, newborn and child mortality reviews ( including mortality assessment tools ). Our goal is now to accelerate the implementation of recommendations -towards meeting Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5 on promoting maternal health and reducing infant and child mortality.
This meeting has contributed positively to our efforts to find a common point of departure when looking at mortality reviews in order to improve maternal health and promote child survival and development in Africa, beyond 2015.
This workshop comes ahead of the meeting on Countdown to 2015 which starts in Cape Town tomorrow. The meeting will provide a follow up on the progress achieved and the challenges in implementing interventions to reduce maternal, newborn and child deaths since 1990. More than 60 countries have been identified as contributing to more than 90% of global maternal, newborn and child deaths.
Certainly, we can expect that many of these countries are from Africa as was highlighted in one of the presentations to this workshop.
As we continue to engage on this matter, we need to emphasize the need to highlight those factors that are often overlooked when these assessments are made. Those factors are the social determinants of health such as poverty, underdevelopment, poor nutrition and lack of access to basic services like water and sanitation.
In my opening address, I mentioned the challenges of global commitments on development that have not yet been met. Developed countries committed themselves at Monterrey to devote 0.7% of their GDP to Official Development Assistance (ODA), but some of these countries have hardly reached 0.2%. There is now an urgent need to deliver on this commitment if we are to reduce the major inequities that exist in the world.
It is still true today for example that a cow in the European Union enjoys a higher subsidy than the incomes of more than half the world's population at $2.20 a day! We also have to highlight the challenges posed by the current high food prices which are certainly going to undermine the health status of our populations. It is necessary to continue to call for a fair trade arrangement between the north and the south as highlighted in the Doha discussions particularly with regard to opening the market for African farmers to sell their products.
The failure to meet development commitments continues to limit the impact of our efforts to improve the overall health status of our populations.
Despite all the challenges, we should not be discouraged from acknowledging our achievements. Every country in our continent has found it necessary to investigate the reasons behind the maternal deaths occur and find corrective measures to prevent those deaths. This conference received an extensive presentation of the Confidential Inquiries into Maternal Deaths that we conduct as South Africa to identify factors contributing to maternal deaths and implementation appropriate interventions to address these factors.
Our ability as the continent to successfully convene this important meeting is also an achievement on its own. This workshop is unique in that it has brought together the continent to review maternal, newborn and child mortality and mobilise Africa's movement to improve maternal health and promote child survival and development beyond 2015. Our theme was indeed: "Africa's Movement to improve Maternal Health and Promote Child Survival and Development in Africa".
As we move forward, we have to ensure that the recommendations that have been presented here this morning translate into implementable strategies that should improve maternal and child health. These recommendations will be taken to the Ministers of Health of the African Union next month, in Geneva.
They will also be presented to the Heads of States of the African Union as part of the progress report on the implementation of the Africa Health Strategy.
Programme Director, we all agree that major progress can be achieved within the next 8 years (to 2015) through scaling up of programmes to relating to MDGs 4 and 5.
We also agree that we need to strengthen the health system and collection of reliable data, which is critical in informing policy interventions to improve the quality of care at different levels within our health systems. Reliable data will also assist us in unmasking the progress that is being made by different regions and countries on various indicators relating to the MDGs.
The delegates have made suggestions on what is most appropriate, feasible and affordable to reduce mortality in Africa. We know what we want to achieve and how we can achieve these goals. What is necessary is to accelerate the implementation of programmes which requires greater investment in strengthening of national health systems.
In conclusion, programme director, I would like to say thank you again to all the African Union member states and our international partners represented here. Your contributions to the discussions on maximizing the impact of the current health interventions would benefit the people of our continent and also foster policy and programme development and implementation.
I would like to also take this opportunity to thank all the delegates that have been able to attend this workshop since Sunday. Thank to the AU Commissioner for Social Affairs, the WHO Assistant Director General, the MECs for Health who joined us at opening of this workshop. I also would like to express our appreciation to the UN agencies and development partners who have provided support and contributed to the success of this conference.
Those who will still remain in South Africa, enjoy the rest of your stay in our country and those who are returning home, have a safe journey.
Hambani kahle
Bon voyage