Advocacy for Mothers and Babies: Maternal & Newborn Health as a Global Health Priority

Presentation at the Asia Regional Meeting on Interventions for Impact in Essential Obstetric & Newborn Care Dhaka, Bangladesh 6 May 2012 Amy Boldosser, Director, Global Advocacy

Progress, but not enough

Progress has been made, but MDGs 4 & 5 still far off track Most progress in North Africa and Asia Least progress in sub-Saharan Africa

Global average annual rate reduction

Maternal mortality ratio aARC = 2.3% 1- 59 month mortality rate aARC = 2.5% Neonatal mortality rate aARC = 1.8% All 3 measures show increased progress since 2000
REGION Africa Eastern Mediterranean Southeast Asia Western Pacific Americas Europe Neonatal mortality rate Average annual change 1990-2010 < 1% 1.5% 2.2% 3.3% 3.4% 3.5%

Source: Lawn J et al A decade of change for Newborn survival: multi country analysis. Health Policy and Planning, in press Data sources: Oestergaard et al 2011 PLoS, UNICEF 2011 www.childinfo.org

More money for health, more health for the money

Substantial funding gap: $26B for MNCH programs, $62B for MNCH health system investment, $81B for other scale-up (for 49 lowest-income countries)
Billions (US$)
20 15 12 12 16 18

Other costs for scaling up to meet the health MDGs Health systems costs of programs targeting women and children Direct costs for programs targeting women and children

10

12
5 2013

13

15

4
2011

4
2012

6
2014

7 2015

High burden & Inequalities

Neonatal deaths

Maternal mortality ratio

Copyright SASI Group (University of Sheffield) and Mark Newman (University of Michigan).

Key advocacy targets

Policy and program decision-makers:
Ministry of Health/Finance officials Donors Technical and implementing agencies, including NGOs

Health care professional associations

Those influencing decision-makers:

Media
General public (relatively untapped)

Global advocacy partnerships: Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child Health Continuum Every Woman, Every Child (Global Strategy for Womens and Childrens Health )

Commission on Information and Accountability for Womens & Childrens Health & independent Expert Review Group UN Commission on Life-Saving Commodities for Women & Children

www.everywomaneverychild.org

The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health

Focus on Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (RMNCH) Continuum of Care Aims to accelerate achievement of MDGs 4 & 5 Promotes the collaboration of key constituencies, 450 members Advocacy on accountability for Global Strategy and regional RMNCH commitments www.who.int/pmnch

Countdown to 2015 A global movement since 2005 of

1. Individuals: Scientists & academics, policymakers, public health workers, communications experts, teachers
2. Governments: RMNCH policymakers, Parliamentarians 3. Organizations: NGOs, UN agencies, HCPAs, donors, medical journals 4. Linked to Global Strategy

And from countries

Countdown tracks progress

For maternal, newborn & child health

In the 75 highest burden countries

Analyze and disseminate data on country progress Advocate at national and international level Accountability for action, highlighting gaps Coverage & quality of care with detailed equity analyses Financial inputs by donors for MNCH Policies and health system strength

Data gaps
Country specific Countdowns

www.countdown2015mnch.org

Global advocacy partners/initiatives

Women Deliver White Ribbon Alliance Maternal Health Task Force Campaign to End Fistula

Opportunities, challenges and priorities

Maintain and strengthen attention/visibility
Identify new global, regional, national champions Translate into increased investment Focus not just on donors, but on national budgets

Share evidence on effective interventions

Linkages across continuum of care
Community-based strategies?

Hold stakeholders accountable

Global (iERG) and national mechanisms Improve data collection, analysis, use

Now is the time Together we must make a decisive move, now, to improve the health of women and children around world. We know what works. We have achieved excellent progress in a short time in some countries.
- Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary General, 2010