Nairobi, Kenya – Kibera, one of East Africa’s biggest informal settlements, played host to the launch of the East African Caravan on Maternal Health in Nairobi, Kenya on July 3. In attendance were women, men, boys and girls, UN representatives, Ambassadors, representatives from the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, medical doctors and other dignitaries.
The caravan makes its journey through Kenya into Tanzania and Rwanda before arriving in Kampala, Uganda on July 14, ahead of the 15th Ordinary Session of the Summit of the African Union.
A key highlight of the launch were the testimonies of poor urban and rural women about their harrowing experiences with pregnancy and childbirth, and just how easily women die from preventable causes. One woman spoke of situations where a pregnant woman in the rural areas is required to go to the delivery room fully equipped with a medical kit that costs $5, yet her income is less than $1 every two weeks. These kinds of stories are actually lived experiences on a daily basis in much of rural and urban sub-Saharan Africa and ought to provoke members of the public as well as policy makers to take urgent action to improve maternal health care in the region.
At 560 per 100,000 live births, Kenya’s maternal mortality rate is high and has devastating ramifications at the family and societal levels. The theme accompanying the caravan is No Woman Should Die While Giving Life, as part of a campaign led by ABANTU for Development in collaboration with the United Nations Millennium Campaign’s Africa Regional Office, FEMNET and other partners.
Dr. Annah Wamae, representative of the Kenyan Minister for Public Health and Sanitation and Senior Assistant Director of Medical Services, said every woman has a right to good health and a decent life, adding that cases of maternal deaths are preventable if gender concerns are put on the front line at the policy level. She urged women to attend at least four ante-natal and post-natal medical visits in order to avoid complications during pregnancy and at childbirth.
The United Nations Development Programme Resident Coordinator, Mr. Aeneas Chuma, was optimistic about the possibility of developing a breakthrough strategy for Africa to achieve the MDGs, by promoting awareness through the policy makers who signed the Millennium Declaration 10 years ago. The 15th Ordinary Session of the Summit of the African Union is scheduled to take place in Kampala from July 19-27, under the theme of “Maternal, Infant and Child Health and Development in Africa.”
As the Caravan travels across each country, ABANTU, in collaboration with regional and in-country partners, will hold public rallies and offer free health information and medical services in identified health facilities, social centers and schools. The Caravan will also collect real-life stories of the various human rights violations that women endure that result in maternal mortality and morbidity.
The Millennium Development Goals include two targets for 2015 linked to maternal health: to reduce, by three quarters, the maternal mortality ratio, and achieve universal access to reproductive health.
As it traverses the East African region, the Caravan will also engage policymakers, health care providers, women and men, boys and girls in select communities to take action against needless deaths and to promote the view that because women’s lives are valuable and worth preserving, access to quality maternal health care is a basic human right.
Of all health indicators, maternal mortality exhibits the greatest disparity between the developed and developing world, with 95% of the burden shouldered by Africa and Asia alone. Like many other health indicators, the burden of maternal mortality is heaviest among the poor.
According to research by the African Population and Health Research Centre, all major causes of maternal complications leading to morbidity and mortality are treatable when women are supported by a functioning health care system to deliver early treatment.
Current figures for maternal mortality in Kenya are 560 per 100,000 live births – an unacceptably high figure. Similarly, early childbearing remains a significant health and social problem, leading to many unsafe abortions. Nearly a quarter of Kenyan women have started childbearing by the age of 20 and this proportion is higher for women living in informal urban settlements.
