Harare, 11 October 2004 -- The third meeting of the Regional Reproductive Health Task Force in Africa ended Friday in Harare with a recommendation for the establishment of a special fund for the acceleration of maternal and newborn morbidity and mortality in the African Region.

The proposed fund would be used to implement inter-country activities in support of national maternal and newborn morbidity and mortality programmes and enhance the utilization of human and financial resources. It is also expected to strengthen national implementation and resource mobilization capacity and generate international commitment for maternal and newborn morbidity and mortality reduction.

The proposed fund would be structured on a “special programme” model to articulate concrete maternal and newborn maternal reduction programmes in countries and source for funds for their execution.

In a consensus statement on Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs), the Task Force noted that although TBAs were not “skilled attendants” as internationally defined, the majority of deliveries in the Region occurred outside health facilities with a significant proportion of women assisted by TBAs.

The statement called on countries in the Region to “develop a plan for phasing out the use of TBAs, preferably by 2015, with a focus on a human resources development plan that will include strategies for producing , deploying and retaining skilled attendants.”

In the interim, however, the scope of work of TBAs should be redefined with a focus on building their capacity to enable them continue with the leadership role they play in many communities . A mechanism should also be put in place for effective supervision of TBAs by skilled attendants at the primary health care level.

The meeting also adopted a number of other wide ranging recommendations aimed at scaling up action to improve maternal and newborn health, and increase access to maternal, newborn and child health services in the African Region. 

Participants urged the African Union to accelerate the adoption of the African Continental Road Map for the reduction of maternal and newborn mortality, establish an annual Maternal and Newborn Day to advocate for improved maternal and newborn health, devote one full day to the issue during the next African Heads of State summit, and push for a Declaration on maternal and newborn mortality reduction.

The meeting called on the World Health Organization and partners, including the private sector and NGOs, to give priority to maternal and newborn mortality reduction activities and make adequate resources available to countries for the implementation of the Road map for the accelerated reduction of maternal and newborn maternal morbidity and mortality in the African Region. The road map aims to reduce Africa’s maternal mortality ratio by 75%, and child mortality by two-thirds by 2015.

The Task Force members urged WHO and partners to support and assist countries to: build capacity for logistics management to ensure the availability of reproductive health facilities, including contraceptives, and support the documentation of country experiences including lessons learnt in the implementation of the road map at country level.

They also called on WHO and partners to “increase advocacy for the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to lift the ban on the employment of health providers of to ensure increased availability skilled health attendants and mechanisms for their equitable deployment and retention.”

Closing the meeting, Zimbabwe’s Health Child Welfare Minister, Dr David Parirenyatwa, congratulated the Task Force for spearheading the development of the Road map which he said strengthen and accelerate activities would contribute to saving the lives of hundreds of thousands of pregnant women and their newborns.

“If countries do not invest money in Reproductive Health in general and in supporting the Road map in particular, there will never be any development in the Region because the major resource that the continent has of producing the much-needed human resource is the women of Africa”, the Minister said.

Concluding, Dr Parirenyatwa said: ”Zimbabwe like its counterparts in the African Region will support ad implement the Road map. The WHO Regional Office for Africa is assured of our commitment in accelerating the implementation of the Road map.”

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