Tunis — The slogan for 2005 World Health Day is 'Make every mother and child count'. This theme was chosen by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to remind the world that millions of mothers and children are still at high risk of death and disease at a time when the solutions to these problems are more available and technically within reach.
Nevertheless health statistics indicate that the status of maternal and child health (MCH) is still unacceptably high in the developing world, whereas these problems have been virtually eliminated in high-income countries. Maternal and child illness and death are particularly high in the Africa region.
The African Development Bank (ADB) is fully committed to improving maternal and child health, and has to date financed a number of interventions that positively impact the welfare of women and children. Most health projects mainstream MCH facilities into the provision of health infrastructure. Many projects also include other reproductive health activities, such as the training of health care providers in maternal and child health care. In 2005 it is projected that the Bank will approve commitments amounting to approximately 170 million Units of account (UA*), equivalent to US$ 257 million, for the health sector from which mothers and children stand to benefit. Among the upcoming activities are projects with MCH activities in Sierra Leone and Benin. In addition, building on its HIV/AIDS stand-alone operations, three regional projects are planned that will protect potential mothers and/or unborn children from HIV/AIDS infection - the SADC HIV/AIDS Project, the Lake Chad Initiative and the Great Lakes Initiative.
One of the lessons learned from projects from non-health sectors financed by the Bank is that there are health benefits that accrue to women and children. During the International Conference on Water Supply and Sanitation in Rural Africa, organized by the ADB Group in Paris on 1st April 2005, the participants emphasized the strong impact of water quality, sanitation and hygiene on women and children's health. President Chirac underlined the financial needs to enhance Africa's lot: « the current African situation's cost in terms of health, education and food security amounts to US$ 22 billion per year ». Moreover, education, micro-finance and gender also contribute either directly or indirectly to better health in African communities, especially for mothers and children. Child protection is another area of Bank intervention, as reflected in the recently-approved Zambia Child Welfare Project, which is expected to have positive health implications for the growing number of vulnerable children. The Bank's increasing focus on all these areas will assist in improving the overall welfare of mothers and their children in general as well as their health in particular.
The WHO rightly characterises the global situation of maternal and child health as a forgotten health crisis. This points out to the fact that the international community - including governments, international donors, nongovernmental organizations, the private sector, the media, community-based groups, and individuals need to both learn more about and do more about the health and well-being of mothers and children. The African Development Bank reaffirms its commitment to strengthen is efforts in MCH, an area that is essential for a better tomorrow in Africa.
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African Mother and Child Health (MCH) in numbers
· 2 of the Millennium Development Goals are directly related to these issues: the reduction of the maternal mortality by 3/4 and the reduction of under-5 mortality by 2/3, both by 2015.
· Over half-a-million women in developing countries die in pregnancy and childbirth each year. In Africa pregnancy or childbirth kills a woman every minute.
· Nearly 11 million children in the world die before they reach their fifth birthday. In Africa the under 5-child mortality in many countries is at least 20 times higher than that of high-income countries.
