Johannesburg — Major progress can be achieved within the next eight years through scaling up health programmes relating to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), says Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang.

"We know what we want to achieve and how we can achieve this goal, what is necessary is to accelerate the implementation of the programme which requires greater investment in strengthening of national health system," said the minister.

The minister was speaking on Wednesday during the closing of the African Union consultative workshop on maternal, new born and child mortality, which started on Sunday.

The workshop aimed to provide an opportunity for health organisations and institutions to share experiences and best practices and strategies on reducing the maternal, newborn and under five year's mortality.

Minister Tshabalala-Msimang who is also the Chairperson of the Bureau of African Union Health said there is a need to strengthening the health system and collection of reliable data, which is critical in informing policy intervention to improve the quality of care at different levels within the health system.

"Reliable data will also assist us in unmasking the progress that is being made by different regions and countries on various indicators relating to the MDG," she said.

During the workshop delegates recommended that countries should make maternal death a noticeable condition including the death occurring in the community.

They also recommended that appropriate legal policy and community framework must be put in place at national level to institutionalise maternal death reviews.

Furthermore, countries should share training methods, technologies and birth practices to facilitate regional harmonisation.

More than 60 percent of African countries have been identified as contributing to more than 90 percent of global maternal, new born and child death.

The minister emphasised the need to highlight the factors that are often overlooked during the assessment.

The factors includes social determinant of health such as poverty, underdevelopment, poor nutrition and lack of basic services like water and sanitation.

She however, acknowledged the achievement by the continent despite all the challenges.

"Every country in our continent have found it necessary to investigate the reasons behind the maternal death occur and find corrective measures to prevent them," said the minister.

During the conference, delegates invited the minister to be Africa's champion and Goodwill Ambassador for advocating the implementation of the recommendation of Africa's Movement to Improve Maternal Health and Promote Child survival and development in Africa, beyond 2015.

Accepting an invitation, the minister said: "I will not let you down, I will make sure that these recommendations are known by my colleagues and presented to Heads of State of the African Union as part of the progress report on the implementation of the African Health strategy."