It was recently reported in the media that the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Ms Rebecca Kadaga, wants an independent ministry to handle maternal health. Kadaga argued that maternal health needs to be removed from the general health sector so that it is easier to identify the challenges and needs of mothers and thereby improve maternal health in the country.
The deputy speaker's concerns are substantive. Something needs to be done to improve the maternal health situation in this country however; I do not think that setting up a maternal health ministry will improve the situation. We should bear in mind that setting up a ministry requires extra funding which the country may not readily have.
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