Africa is making progress on many fronts. Many sexual and reproductive health indices are beginning to show positive trends – including a decrease in morbidity and mortality – although some are much slower than others, said Mr. Bunmi Makinwa, Director, UNFPA Africa Regional Office.
Partnership is needed to increase access to sexual and reproductive health, to tip the balance and help Africa benefit from this positive trend and achieve her development targets, including MDG5, he said.
Mr. Makinwa was speaking at the 60th Anniversary of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) commemoration event in Johannesburg, South Africa on 23 November. The theme of the occasion was Building Effective Partnerships to Increase Access to Sexual and Reproductive Health in Africa. The event was attended by the Regional Director, IPPF Africa Regional Office, Mr. Lucien Kouakou, IPPF Executive Directors, UNFPA staff and member associations.
Mr. Makinwa said the maternal mortality ratio has already dropped by 41 per cent over the last two decades. Overall total fertility rate and new HIV infection rates are declining. Coverage performances for key interventions for sexual and reproductive health are increasing across many countries, including antenatal care, skilled birth attendance, prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT), contraceptive prevalence rates.
Two countries within the region are on track to achieve Millennium Development Goal 5 (MDG5) targets and 20 others are progressing at rates that can be accelerated with the right investment to reach the target, Mr. Makinwa said. “Of course, we note that the burden of sexual and reproductive health remains high in Africa, so we must act, and act fast in a concerted and united manner.”
The second reason that access to sexual and reproductive health needs to be increased is so that Africa benefits from the current bulge in the youth population, and turns it into a demographic bonus rather than a demographic burden. “With the right socio-economic investments of education, development of a skilled labour force, creation of employment and economic productivity, and provision of sexual reproductive health services, especially family planning, this large youth population could become a demographic bonus for a higher economic growth for the continent.”
The provision of sexual and reproductive health services would ensure that young people are protected, live healthy lives and space their births so as to engage in socio-economic development activities. When it came to the elements of sexual and reproductive health that need to be repositioned, Mr. Makinwa said that not all SRH interventions could be implemented in one go.
He listed the top three priority interventions that could help positively advance the SRH agenda in Africa, as follows: family planning, skilled birth attendance and sexuality education and provision of youth friendly services. “Each of these three interventions will positively impact maternal health, reduce maternal mortality and HIV transmission, especially when there is high-level political commitment and leadership, health financing, and community involvement and individual responsibility,” he said.
