As the government held official celebrations to mark International Women's Day in Bushenyi on Monday, some women belonging to the Inter-Party Cooperation decided to highlight the plight of women in the area of reproductive health by marching to Mulago Hospital.

Despite the wide political differences, both President Museveni who presided over the function in Bushenyi, and the IPC women at Mulago, at least agreed on one thing: the level of maternal mortality in the country is unacceptable.

President Museveni was quoted as saying: "There is still a problem of maternal mortality. I am aware of it but I have not studied it thoroughly. I will take time during my country tour to study it....I may attribute the problem to doctors who are stealing drugs, but it could be corruption in hospitals."

One of the women said: "Mothers continue to die in hospitals because there are no gloves and razorblades." Others pointed out that women continue to deliver babies on the floor of hospital wards while hospitals continue to lack basics such as soap and gloves.

Indeed, the situation is alarming. President Museveni may not have "studied" the problem "thoroughly," but according to the 2006 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey conducted by his government, the maternal mortality rate stood at 435 deaths per 100,000 live births!

Although this is said to be an improvement from 527 deaths in 2001, it remains higher than the Millennium Development Goal of at least 131. The IPC women might have been driven by a political agenda, but their concerns are legitimate and cannot be merely brushed aside. The state of our healthcare is sad, especially in the rural areas.

Where hospitals or dispensaries exist, either they lack adequate medicines, equipment and facilities, or they don't have adequate well trained and motivated professionals.

Corruption may be partly to blame, but it is also true that the government has all these years not invested enough in health. Hospitals are not properly maintained and medical workers are poorly remunerated.

But even where minimum services exist, the cost is too high for the very poor. This government needs to tackle this problem head-on. No woman should die trying to give life.