By Edward Acquah, GNA
Accra, July 22, GNA – The United Nations Population Fund has called for coordinated multi-sectoral action to improve maternal, adolescent and reproductive health outcomes across Africa.
The agency said governments, development partners, communities and local authorities must work together to tackle the social and economic factors driving poor health outcomes among women, girls and adolescents.
Dr Sennen Hounton, Regional Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) for West and Central Africa, made the call during a ministerial session at the African Union Extraordinary Summit on Health in Accra.
The summit, being held from July 20 to 23, has brought together African Heads of State, ministers, health experts and development partners to accelerate action towards stronger health systems across the continent.
Dr Hounton outlined five priority actions to improve health outcomes, including protecting women and girls from harmful practices such as child marriage, expanding girls’ education, providing comprehensive sexual and reproductive health information, improving access to modern contraceptives, increasing sustainable health financing and strengthening accountability through the use of data.
“It has to be a multi-sectoral societal action and not an individual intervention,” Dr Hounton said.
Dr Hounton urged governments to embrace innovation, including digital technologies, to improve young people’s access to reproductive health commodities.
“The reality is that young people must have access to the products. We must trust the girls so that they have access,” he said.
On health financing, Dr Hounton said fiscal constraints and rising debt servicing obligations were limiting many African governments’ ability to invest in healthcare.
He said UNFPA was collaborating with the African Development Bank to develop financing instruments that would improve governments’ access to affordable funding for health programmes.
Dr Hounton also called for stronger accountability at the local government level, saying health data should be used to monitor progress and hold institutions accountable for improving outcomes.
Opening the ministerial session, Madam Amma Twum-Amoah, African Union Commissioner for Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development, said many women continued to die from preventable causes during pregnancy and childbirth, while newborns, children and adolescents still lacked access to quality healthcare.
She described health equity as “a development imperative, a human rights obligation and a matter of social justice” and urged stakeholders to move beyond identifying challenges to implementing practical, measurable and adequately financed solutions.
“Our success will be measured by whether a woman can give birth safely, whether a newborn can survive and thrive, whether an adolescent can fulfil their potential and whether every vulnerable person can access quality healthcare without discrimination or financial hardship,” she said.
Earlier, Dr Jean Kaseya, Director-General of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), said although Africa had made progress in reducing maternal mortality, the continent remained off track to achieve global targets.
He said only seven African countries had fewer than 70 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births and called for stronger political commitment to improving maternal and child health.
Dr Kaseya also expressed concern over Africa’s continued dependence on imported vaccines despite hosting clinical trials, and urged governments to invest in local production of vaccines and other essential health products.
The Extraordinary Summit is expected to adopt commitments to strengthen primary healthcare, reduce maternal and child mortality, improve adolescent health, expand access to essential medicines and increase domestic financing for resilient health systems across Africa.
GNA
Edited by Kenneth Sackey
Reporter: Edward Acquah
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