African Union leader promises must be followed by action
Leaders at the African Union summit in Kampala, Uganda kept their promise to spend 15% of their national spending on health. Now political will is needed to translate promises into action.
Tuesday 27 July 2010
In the last budget year only three African countries met the 15% health spending promise that was first made in Abuja, Nigeria in 2001, which is down from six countries the year before, according to World Health Organisation figures.
But African leaders’ commitment to establishing a task force on maternal, newborn, and child health that would monitor data and track progress on meeting agreed targets is an encouraging sign.
“African leaders have acknowledged that political will is the silver bullet needed to end maternal and child deaths,” said Chikezie Anyanwu, Save the Children’s Africa Advocacy Advisor. “The strategy they have committed to is excellent. Now they must follow through. If they dedicate the resources promised and employ the strategies outlined here, African leaders could save the lives of millions of children and mothers and dramatically boost the development of the continent.”
Every year in Africa, 4.5 million children and 265,000 mothers die. The vast majority of these lives could be saved through access to very basic health interventions that are proven and often very low-cost.
The summit outcome declaration includes a pledge to strengthen health systems to provide comprehensive, integrated, maternal, newborn and child health care services, with a recognition that countries must act to address health worker shortages. There is an estimated shortage of 800,000 health workers across the continent.
Save the Children also commends the leaders for pledging to reduce out-of-pocket health expenses through initiatives such as waiving health care fees for pregnant women and children under the age of five.
A recent study estimated that 85 percent of maternal, newborn, and under five deaths in Africa could be prevented if all mothers and their children received a full package of essential health care. That means that the lives of about four million African women, newborns, and children could be saved each year if already well-known interventions reached 90 percent of families on the continent.
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