RWANDA – Rwanda has hosted a regional conference on maternal, newborn and child health in Kigali organized by the East and Southern Africa United Nations interagency team, comprising representatives of United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
The side meeting held by UNFPA on the State of the World’s Midwifery 2021 report for East and Southern Africa saw the attendance and participation by representatives of ministries of health and midwifery associations, and UNFPA midwifery experts.
The Regional initiative held in the capital city of Rwanda aimed to track the progress of Every Newborn Action Plan (ENAP) and Ending Preventable Maternal Mortality (EPMM) Frameworks specifically to track progress on ending preventable maternal and newborn deaths.
The meeting led by the H6 Eastern and Southern Africa Coordination Team particularly UNICEF, WHO and UNFPA focused sought to support the implementation of evidence-based maternal and newborn health guidelines.
Significant progress has been made in improving the survival and health of pregnant women and newborns in the East and Southern Africa region. For instance, the maternal mortality ratio (MMR, or number of maternal deaths per 100,000 live births) dropped by 49 per cent between 2000 and 2017
The regional conference stressed on the need for greater investments in integrated initiatives together with quality integrated reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health (RMNCAH) interventions that focus on health promotion, disease prevention and treatment.
In addition, countries shared their successful practices and challenges on universal health coverage, emergency obstetric care, midwifery and newborn health, as they work to accelerate progress on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) targets.
The event highlighted that many countries have developed policies on RMNCAH and implemented them at every level of the health system in line with the Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescent’s Health 2016-2030 along with setting targets towards achieving the SDGs.
The group also identified opportunities to scale up high-impact interventions in primary health care from south-south cooperation to harnessing the power of innovation including using new digital technologies, such as portable ultrasound, e-learning and mentoring platforms, safe delivery apps and clinical decision support platforms.
According to UNFPA, country experiences were shared on developing an enabling environment and equipping midwives with the skills and knowledge they need to ensure healthy pregnancies and safe births since midwives are key to reducing maternal and neonatal deaths
The UN agency outlines that Action plans were developed for improving the state of midwifery in their respective countries, adding that UNFPA will play a key role in providing technical support to implement these plans over the next two years.
UNFPA disclosed that the Action plans touch on increasing the number of qualified midwives equipped with the knowledge and skills they need to help reduce maternal deaths and accelerate progress on achieving the SDGs.
“High-impact interventions are needed to ensure the provision of quality maternal and newborn health care, from pre-pregnancy, antenatal, labour and delivery as well as postpartum and neonatal periods,” WHO Rwanda Representative Dr. Brian Chirombo said.
Dr. Chirombo further said the global health agenda has shifted from a focus on reducing mortality to ensuring that all women, newborns, children and adolescents not only survive but thrive and realize their rights to the highest attainable standards of health and well-being.
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