ALMOST everyday the media calls upon Government to prioritise reproductive health issues in the country to save the lives of mothers and newborn babies.
Members of Parliament, religious leaders, journalists and all those whose voices can be heard are quoted demanding that the Government intervenes and prioritises reproductive health. The female MPs in this ninth Parliament have their eyes set on how differently the Government is going to tackle maternal deaths. The media also wants to know how the Government intends to tackle the problem.
We continue to lose 16 women every day due to pregnancy-related causes with others surviving with complications. The maternal and mortality ratio is still unacceptably high with 435 women dying in every 100, 000 live births.
However, the Government is not sitting back on these worrying statistics. The Ministry of Health is undertaking a number of measures to improve the lives of mothers, but the efforts should not be left to it alone. What hurts the most is that these deaths are preventable.
It is the responsibility of everyone, man or woman, to complement the Government’s efforts in the fight against maternal deaths. Over the past 10 years, the Government has prioritised reproductive health issues through the Health Sector Strategic Plans. The new Health Sector Strategic Investment Plan III 202010/11-2014/15 has also not left this to the docks. It, too, recognised the fact that maternal and child health conditions carry the highest total burden of disease with prenatal and maternal conditions accounting for 20.4% of the total disease burden in Uganda and so should be given appropriate attention.
The Government has committed itself to increasing contraceptives and reducing stock out in health facilities, a commitment that it is trying hard to meet. This financial year, the Government has allocated sh24b of the health sector budget to reproductive health. A number of projects within the health ministry have also been created to provide support to this noble cause. This funding will help provide the necessary equipment, vaccines, drugs, contraceptives and training of medical personnel to handle reproductive health. Much of it is also to motivate health workers in the hard-to-reach areas where mothers continue to die due to lack of medical personnel to attend to them.
In addition, a number of hospitals throughout the country are currently being renovated and equipped with necessary apparatus to tackle reproductive health. Family planning, emergency obstetric care, antenatal and postnatal care and breastfeeding are some of the issues to be tackled.
We all can join the Government by making it our responsibility to educate the masses on the benefits of family planning, antenatal and postnatal care and why we should deliver under the care of health workers. The MPs should join the Government efforts by educating the masses about the importance of family planning. Journalists should also spread the gospel and educate the masses about reproductive health issues. To religious leaders should also join the Government on this noble cause.
If we all joined this cause, high maternal deaths in Uganda will be history.
By Rukia Nakamatte
The writer is a public relations officer, Ministry of Health
As reported in: http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/459/760291