ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar – Madagascar became the 44th African country to launch CARMMA, the Campaign on Accelerated Reduction of Maternal Mortality in Africa, on 15 September. Madagascar joins the other islands of the Indian Ocean, which have launched the campaign and put in place key activities to ensure an end to preventable maternal, newborn and child deaths.
The launch was hosted by the First Lady of Madagascar, Rajaonarimampianina Voahangy, and the Prime Minister Dr. Kolo Roger, who is the Minister of Public Health. It took place at the Stade Couvert de Mahamasina, in the capital of Antananarivo.
Speakers at the event included the USAID Country Director, Resident Representatives from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the African Union. The launch featured a signature of commitments, a demonstration on family planning services, site visits and the donation of blood by participants.
Millennium Development Goal 5 (MDG 5), with a target of reducing the maternal mortality ratio by three quarters and achieving universal access to reproductive health by 2015, is at the centre of all the MDGs. Recent studies have shown that it is profitable to invest in maternal health and family planning. Bangladesh, a country with very low financial and natural resources, has made remarkable progress by investing in reproductive health and that of the mother, as have Malawi, Tanzania and Rwanda.
Madagascar plans to focus on increasing advocacy activities targeting decisions makers, opinion and community leaders; carrying out information and community mobilization; instituting a family planning international day through free delivery services and outreach throughout the country; organizing decentralized launches of CARMMA in its 22 regions with development of regional CARMMA plans with the commitment of local stakeholders; reviewing and updating the roadmap for reducing maternal mortality, and monitoring and evaluating CARMMA activities.
Campaign on Accelerated Reduction of Maternal Mortality in Africa
For more information on the Campaign on Accelerated Reduction of Maternal Mortality see www.carmma.org
