Ministry Launches Plan To Improve Maternal Health

MARANYANE NGWANAAMOTHO
Staff Writer | Monday October 12, 2009 00:00

The coordinator of the Health Hub, Gabolekwe Tlogelang said on Friday that one of the strategies for achieving the target is the Accelerated Child Survival and Development Strategic Plan (ACSD).

He explained that ACSD is one of the efforts by the ministry to improve maternal health in the country. Tlogelang was speaking during the launch of the ACSD in Gaborone. He stated that over the years the country has made strides in maternal health coverage.

'It is time to make a reflection on our strategies and interventions if as a country; we are to achieve the declared goal of making Botswana a compassionate, just and caring nation.  The development of the ACSD by the government is an example of our determination as a nation to ensure that the goals we have set for ourselves in Vision 2016 and NDP 10 are met,' he said. He added that NDP 10 offers a platform of vital strategic evidence-based interventions and addresses key challenges that aimed at scaling up government commitment to further reduce child mortality despite the current economic challenges.

Tlogelang said that SADC countries recently renewed their commitment to improve maternal health and promote child survival and development goals by 2015. He said that District Health Teams in Botswana have been trained on how to incorporate High Impact Interventions in their plans. He stated that single interventions like Prevention of Mother To Child Transmission cannot substantially reduce child mortality and morbidity. 'Even if children may be born HIV negative, if other interventions do not address child health, the children would still die from other conditions such as Malaria, Diarrhoea, Pneumonia and malnutrition. It is therefore important and necessary that programmes collaborate and synergised to attain the Millennium Development Goals,' he said. 

Dr Eugene Nyarko, the World Health Organisation (WHO) representative in Botswana, said at the launch that more than 11 million children in the world die from disease and inadequate nutrition. 

He said that in some countries, more than one in five children die before reaching their fifth birthday, despite the fact that technology and interventions to prevent mortality are within reach.

'It is therefore unacceptable that we allow this state of affair to continue, and we must do all we can to give every child everywhere a better chance of growing into a healthy, responsible and productive adult,' he said.

He warned that there are still serious challenges to be overcome in order to achieve the global goal to reduce child mortality.

'We know that about two thirds of child deaths can be prevented through access to practical, low-cost high impact interventions, and effective primary health care up to five years of age,' he said.