The Regional Director for West and Central Africa of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Dr Sennen Hounton, says the inability of African countries to eliminate maternal mortality is not due to a lack of political commitment but rather a combination of health system weaknesses, social inequalities and inadequate financing.
He said while many governments had demonstrated strong commitment to reducing maternal deaths, more women, particularly those in rural and underserved communities, were not able to access quality maternal healthcare.
Dr Hounton was speaking during a media engagement on the sidelines of the African Union Extraordinary Summit on Sustainable Health Financing, last Wednesday.
Maternal mortality
He said despite the challenges, many African countries have made progress over the past two decades, citing Sierra Leone, which has transformed its maternal health outcomes.
“Twenty years ago, this country was almost cited as the worst place for women to die.
Today, the maternal mortality ratio is comparable to that of Ghana, Togo and Benin,” he said.
He stressed that the progress made demonstrated that sustained investments and appropriate policies could significantly reduce maternal deaths.
Multi-sectoral approach
Dr Hounton said UNFPA was advocating a shift from viewing maternal mortality solely as a health sector issue to recognising it as a broader development challenge requiring coordinated action across multiple sectors.
“For far too long, we thought maternal mortality and newborn mortality were just for the health sector, but we realised that even to have the midwives, the Ministry of Finance needs not only to appropriate money to recruit but also release the money so that they can be deployed,” he explained.
Review data
The UNFPA regional director urged governments to periodically review maternal health data to assess whether interventions were achieving the desired results.
“When we look at the data, we realise that more than 30 per cent of the maternal mortality in our region is among adolescent girls and these deaths are completely preventable,” he said.
He acknowledged the importance of abstinence education promoted by families, churches and communities, but said governments and parents must also confront the reality that many adolescents were sexually active and must equip them with accurate information and the means to protect themselves from unintended pregnancies.
“The abstinence message is very good but we must not be fooled. Adolescents are having sex and if they are having sex, we must protect them,” he said.
Geographical data
In view of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, he said the UNFPA was supporting governments to strengthen national data systems through modern population censuses, stating that 22 of the 23 countries under his regional office would have completed geo-referenced modern population censuses by next year.
He said the availability of detailed geographical data would enable governments to identify underserved communities more accurately and target interventions where they were needed most.
Dr Hounton, however, praised Ghana’s investments in addressing inequalities and supporting vulnerable groups, particularly young people and Kayayees, while reaffirming the UNFPA’s commitment to working with the government, AU and development partners to achieve universal health coverage.
Local production
He urged African countries to invest in the local production of reproductive health commodities to reduce the continent’s dependence on imported medical products and donor support, which undermined health security.
According to him, African governments must collaborate to establish regional manufacturing hubs capable of producing contraceptives and other essential health commodities at scale.
