Harare, 19 February 2004 -- Experts from various international agencies and Non Governmental Organizations attending a meeting on maternal and neonatal death reduction in Harare ended their deliberations on Wednesday with the development of a road map aimed at accelerating progress to reduce maternal and newborn morbidity and mortality in the African Region.

The roadmap, which is a regional framework for action, is goal-driven with clear strategies, phases, timelines and benchmarks. It focuses on two areas critical to the reduction of maternal and newborn deaths: provision of skilled attendance at all levels of care, and the strengthening of individual, family and community capacity to improve maternal and newborn health.

Actions to be taken in order to ensure skilled attendance at all levels include: ensuring the availability of skilled and competent health workers to provide emergency obstetric care for the benefit of mothers and newborns, identification of essential supplies, equipment and infrastructure necessary for maternal and newborn health services delivery, mobilization of support for their procurement and distribution, and in-service as well as pre-service training of medical and paramedical workers in emergency obstetric and newborn care and family planning.

With regard to the focus on community, the actions recommended in the roadmap include provision of outreach mechanisms from the health facility level to communities and households, support to health ministries to strengthen existing links between the formal health system and communities, the establishment of community emergency committees to be linked to the formal health system, and the institutionalization of birth preparedness at community level. 

"This is the first time partners working in the area of maternal and child health have come together to agree on the contents of their collective support to countries for accelerated reduction of maternal and newborn deaths. It is a historical moment witnessing the creation of a regional movement to advocate for maternal and child health," commented the Director of the Division of Family and Reproductive Health at the WHO Regional Office for Africa, Dr Doyin Oluwole.

"This partnership for a common roadmap will result in synergy of action and the maximization of the use of existing resources on key evidence-based interventions that are known to be cost-effective. It certainly will result in the reduction of duplication of efforts and activities."

Following this regional meeting, partners will support countries for stakeholders meetings at national level to adapt the roadmap to their specificities for implementation. Implementation of the road map will be periodically monitored to assess progress towards the Millennium Development Goals.

The three-day meeting, organized by the WHO Regional Office for Africa, was attended by experts and health officials from UNFPA, UNICEF, Family Care International, Advance Africa, the West African Health Organization, Engender Health, Population Council, the Commonwealth Regional Secretariat, Academy of Educational Development of USAID, Family Health International, Maternal and Newborn Health Programme of Johns Hopkins University,and WHO/HQ. Also in attendance were WHO Country Representatives, members of the Regional Reproductive Health Task Force, and officials from the Ministries of Health of Zimbabwe and Tanzania.

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