DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania — In an effort to improve maternal health and reach the MDG 5 targets, President Jakaya Kikwete launched ‘Sharpened One Plan’ (2014-2015) to accelerate progress in the reduction of maternal, newborn and child deaths.
With less than two years to go to the end of the 2008-2015 National Road Map Strategic Plan to Accelerate Reduction of Maternal, Newborn and Child Death, and the approaching MDG deadline of 2015, Tanzania has shown slow progress towards attaining the goals for maternal and neonatal mortality reduction, whereas significant progress has been made in reducing child mortality.
“This strategic plan will build a strong foundation for strategic direction towards ending maternal and child mortality post 2015,” President Kikwete said. “Tanzania has managed to attain MDG 4 before reaching 2015, with the under-five mortality rate declining to 54 per 100,000 live births. Despite these achievements, gaps still remain in newborn care and nutrition. We are also grappling with reducing maternal mortality, with the current rate of 454 per 100,000 live births still far from [Tanzania’s] MDG target of 193 per 100,000 live births. We have a long way to go.”
Sharpened One Plan will emphasize access to and quality of family planning services, care at birth and commodity security to maximize health outcomes for women and children. It also highlights the critical need to strengthen accountability and monitoring mechanisms as well as reinforcing partnerships for social mobilization, funding and technical assistance.
Each year, almost 7900 mothers die in Tanzania due to childbirth and pregnancy-related complications that can be prevented. Development partners, NGOs and the UN have urged the Government to prioritize improvement of the quality of health care services, building on policies and plans that are already in place. Tanzania has the potential to save 18,000 lives of pregnant women if only the country can prioritize – set policies and build programmes on a foundation of evidence, invest – mobilize and leverage resources and deliver faster – ensuring that programmes, health workers, and essential supplies are available when and where they are needed most.
vidence shows that accelerated action in addressing unmet need for family planning, addressing the gaps for coverage and quality of care at birth (including postnatal care) and continuing the progress for child health could save millions of women and children's live.
Said President Kikwete: “The slow progress in reducing maternal mortality includes the low utilization of family planning and lack of skilled midwives. We need to involve men in family planning programmes and ensure that our mothers deliver in the hands of skilled midwives.”
The President also launched the Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn and Child (RMNCH) Score Card, which has been developed to track progress of key RMNCH indicators at both national and subnational levels. He said he would follow up on implementation of the score card system and urged the relevant Government officials to identify areas of weakness and to take action to ensure mothers and children don’t die due to causes that can be prevented.
Speaking on behalf of the UN, Acting Resident Coordinator Joyce Mendes-Cole said she was pleased to note that the Sharpened One Plan has focused on five strategic shifts by addressing geographic vulnerability, high burden population, high impact solutions, enabling environment and accountability. “We believe that the score card on RMNCH will go a long way towards measuring progress and ensuring accountability of government, development partners, civil society organizations, academia, private sector and communities at large,” she said.
President Kikwete acknowledged individuals and institutions that have had a significant impact on reducing maternal health in the country. Among them, the United Nations (UNFPA, UNICEF and WHO) received recognition awards for its contribution to the health sector – especially regarding efforts to accelerate reduction of maternal, newborn and child deaths in Tanzania.
~ Sawiche Wamunza
