Nairobi: African governments have been urged to move beyond policy development and accelerate the implementation of proven interventions to reduce preventable maternal, newborn, and child deaths through stronger political commitment, sustainable financing, and greater accountability.
According to Kenya News Agency, speaking on behalf of Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan, the African Union Champion for Maternal and Child Health, Presidential Adviser and Head of the Champion Secretariat Ummy Mwalimu stated that Africa already understands the solutions needed to improve maternal and child health and must now focus on delivering them at scale. Mwalimu emphasized that Africa must implement these solutions at a larger scale, ensure proper financing, and maintain accountability for results during the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) Regional Policy Validation Workshop on Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child, and Adolescent Health (RMNCAH) in Nairobi.
Mwalimu highlighted that the African Union Champion’s four-year roadmap is anchored on the ‘three zeros’ agenda: zero home deliveries, zero preventable maternal and newborn deaths, and zero unvaccinated children. This agenda aims to mobilize political leadership, strengthen accountability, and promote sustainable financing across member states. She stressed that success would be measured by tangible improvements in health outcomes rather than policy documents.
On her part, Head of the Africa CDC Division of Maternal, Newborn, Child, and Adolescent Health, Dr. Diana Nambatya Nsubuga, outlined the challenges Africa faces, including declining external health financing, increasing disease outbreaks, and continued dependence on imported health commodities. She underscored the need for stronger health systems and greater self-reliance to address these issues. Dr. Nsubuga highlighted the need for increased domestic financing, resilient primary healthcare systems, digital transformation, and expanded local manufacturing of vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics.
Dr. Nsubuga added that Africa CDC is encouraging member states to finance at least 50 percent of health expenditure through national budgets while reducing reliance on donor funding. She also announced that 50 of the African Union’s 55 member states had submitted responses to the continental reproductive health assessment, representing a 91 percent response rate, and appealed to the remaining countries to complete the exercise.
Development partners echoed the call for stronger domestic investment in primary healthcare, community health workers, local manufacturing, and evidence-based decision-making to build resilient health systems and improve maternal and child health outcomes across Africa. The three-day workshop has brought together policymakers, technical experts, and development partners from Eastern and Southern Africa to validate findings of a continental assessment that will inform future reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health policies across African Union member states.
