African leaders attending the African Union (AU) Summit in Kampala last week reaffirmed their commitment to the health of women and children.

They renewed their commitment to the 2001 Abuja pledge, where governments agreed to allocate at least 15 per cent of their budgets to health, and renewed their support to the Maputo Plan of Action.

The pledges made during the AU Summit, they said, will accelerate the momentum among African states towards achievement of millennium development goals (MDGs) 4 and 5.

These goals aim to reduce deaths among children under five by two thirds, and lower maternal deaths by three-quarters by 2015.

“African leaders have recognised that the health of women and children is essential to the health of a nation, and that investing in women’s and children’s health makes good economic sense,” said UN deputy secretary-general Asha-Rose Migiro.

The theme of this year’s AU Summit in Kampala was “maternal, infant and child health and development in Africa.”

In their communiqué, the AU leaders promised to strengthen health systems to provide comprehensive maternal, new born and childcare services as well as address the shortage of health workers.

In Africa, an unacceptable number of women still die in pregnancy and childbirth each year. For every woman who dies, at least 20 others suffer injuries, infections and disabilities, like obstetric fistula.

However, almost all maternal deaths are preventable. Complications during pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of death for women of childbearing age in Africa.
The commitment by AU leaders followed renewed pledges by development partners to invest in maternal and child health.

At a conference in June in Washington, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced a $1.5 billion grant to women initiatives over the next five years.

The G8 Summit in Canada, held shortly thereafter, focused on maternal health and $5 billion funding was committed.

As well, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will launch a Joint Action Plan to intensify global efforts to improve the health of women and children at the MDG Review Summit in September.

In another development, the Commissioner for Social Affairs at the AU, Bience Gawanas, cited the UNFPA-backed Campaign to Accelerate Reduction of Maternal Mortality in Africa.

“The campaign has already been launched in 18 African countries and is moving well, though it was initiated just a few months ago”, she said.

At the East African regional level, only Rwanda has been able to fulfill the Abuja commitment. Other countries in Africa that have met this commitment are Botswana, Niger, Malawi, Zambia and Burkina Faso.

“We know the problem of maternal, newborn and child mortality. Infectious diseases can be tamed even in the poorest of countries,” said Rotimi Sankore, coordinator of the African Public Health Alliance.

“Countries like Malawi and Rwanda are making progress in saving the lives of women and children, and improving overall health for their citizens,” she added.

In Rwanda, coverage through social health insurance is providing access to priority health services, including maternal, newborn and child health.

Ministers of health emphasised the need to look at the overall national budgets as an integrated unit and not to merely allocate 15 percent of GDP to health.

“Financing education to extend a medical school in order to increase the number of medical workers is an example of the need to look at the integrated picture,” said Ethiopia’s Minister of Health.