WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2010-04-06 Time: 12:00:24 Posted By: News Poster
Lagos – Africa is off-track in the race to meet the 2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for maternal and child health. Yearly, about 265, 000 mothers die due to complications of pregnancy and childbirth. On the other hand, 1.2 million babies die before they reach one month of age, just as over three million children, who survive their first month of life, die before their fifth birthday.
The maternal and child death figures translate to more than 13, 000 deaths per day, accounting for half of the world’s maternal and child deaths. Additionally, about 880, 000 babies are stillborn and remain uncounted and untracked. The region also carries 90 percent of the world’s malaria deaths, two-thirds of people living with HIV/AIDS globally and 26 percent of the world’s underweight children.
Narrowing this down to Nigeria, the fear over whether it can meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) four and five is heightened as the country is not making enough progress and needs to reduce its under-five mortality rate by at least 10 percent per year. In Africa presently, Nigeria ranks number one in terms of number of newborn deaths, recording 284, 000 deaths of newborns annually. In fact, in the healthcare sector, the country is generally lagging behind most other less endowed countries in-terms of both human and natural resources.
To arrest the ugly healthcare delivery situation in the continent, scientists from the science academies of seven African countries including, Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, Cameroon Academy of Sciences, Kenya National Academy of Sciences, Nigerian Academy of Science (NAS), Academie Nationale des Sciences et Techniques du Senegal, Uganda National Academy of Sciences and Academy of Science of South Africa under the aegis of African Science Academy Development Initiative (ASADI) have decided to team up and offer advises to their various African governments on how to improve the healthcare sector of the countries.
ASADI is a project funded by The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, through the United States National Academies to Strengthen African Academies of Sciences, in advising their national governments on matters of science and technology. At the launch of Nigerian Academy of Science version tagged ‘Science in Action’, a booklet containing the formula for solution to the health problems was also introduced. The booklet emphasised government’s lapses in the use of available provisions.
Professor Oye Ibidapo-Obe, immediate past Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos is the President of Nigerian Academy of Science (NAS). He expressed concern over government’s attitude towards the healthcare sector, especially the mothers and infants, thereby making the country to rank as the third highest in the world and the country with the highest maternal mortality and child morbidity rates in Africa. He spoke about the academy’s preparedness to be more involved in getting things done instead of sitting on the fence and carrying out researches. To this end, he said NAS has been holding series of meetings with the Minister of Science and Technology on the role that science has to play in the delivery of excellent healthcare to the populace.
In his view, scientists have important roles to play in reducing the rate of death of mothers and children, stressing that science has developed many effective health interventions such as medicines, insecticide treated bed-nets, essential equipment for emergency obstetric care and numerous others. He however lamented that many African governments are currently underutilizing existing scientific knowledge to save lives.
For example, he said a consensus now exists among health systems researchers that high impact interventions are most effectively and efficiently delivered when integrated into existing health service delivery packages along the continuum of care for mothers, newborns and children. He noted though that each country’s response will vary depending on local epidemiology, existing coverage, health systems and community capacity.
The ‘Science in Action’ initiative stresses that scientific approach is needed to identify, monitor and evaluate the most appropriate interventions for scaling up in order to strengthen health systems, noting that now is the critical time to use data to set appropriate targets and accelerate action based on data and science. The initiative affirms that such lines of action have the potential to save millions of lives each year and put many African countries on track in the race to meet the MDGs for maternal and child survival.
It also believes that if coverage of essential Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) interventions reaches all families in Sub-Saharan Africa and everyone receives high quality care, nearly four million mothers, newborns and children could be saved each year.
It added that even a moderate increase in coverage of a few strategically selected intervention areas has the potential to save thousands of lives, noting that in order to actually save lives, countries will need to radically strengthen their health systems and address health inequities.
Science in Action further noted certain steps to be taken, insisting that improving health systems and promoting high impact interventions involves everyone and especially requires partnership between scientists and healthcare providers including government, development partners, policy makers, civil society and communities.
Specifically, the initiative recommends the following: increase in funding and accountability for financial promises and fiscal commitments; application of current knowledge to carry out policies and programmes equitably; development of new research and new technologies and adoption of a paradigm shift in implementing science through health systems research; and use of evidence as a basis for health policy and resource allocation.
To meet MDG-four by reducing the under-five mortality rate (U5MR) by two-thirds by 2015, Science in Action noted that though some reduction in the U5MR has been achieved particularly over the last 10 years on average, the pace of the decline across the region has been too slow for the region to meet MDG-four.
Also, newborn deaths account for one in four deaths and the regional average neonatal mortality rate (NMR) in the first 28 days of life have not measurably reduced. However, another significant gain in child survival is a dramatic reduction in measles deaths as a result of improved immunization.
Also, to meet MDG-Five by reducing the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) by three quarters and achieve universal access to reproductive health, Science in Action noted that half of global deaths occur in Sub-Saharan Africa. The MMR in the region has remained practically unchanged since 1990, though there are significant data to measure trends reliably over time.
delivering a paper titled ‘Newborn Health Packages and Priorities to Save Lives Now’ at the launch, Dr. ‘Bimbola Williams noted that majority of women deliver in their homes, stressing that around two-thirds of births in Nigeria occur at home as, according to her, women complain that lack of money for transport and distance to facility are major barriers to accessing care.
She attributed the large number of child deaths to such diseases as tetanus which causes eight per cent of children deaths; diarrhoea, four percent; infections, 22 percent; asphyxia, 26 percent; and preterm, 25 percent.
William said 24 percent of deaths in children less than five years take place in the first month of life, saying that in Nigeria alone, about 700 newborns die everyday. Nigeria, she noted, ranks the highest in Africa in terms of the number of neonatal deaths and the third highest in the world, taking eight percent of the world’s total.
In addition to the direct causes of maternal, newborn and child (MNC) deaths, Science in Action noted that social science research highlights non-health factors or social determinants of health that undermine the survival of mothers and children. It mentioned poverty, education and gender, noting that poverty and inequality are underlying causes for many MNC deaths, claiming that 99 percent of global maternal and newborn deaths occur in low and middle income countries and maternal mortality is more than twice as high in the poorest households compared with the least poor households.
“Poverty undermines MNCH through numerous pathways including increasing the risk of illness and under-nutrition through poor diet, inadequate housing and sanitation, thereby reducing care-seeking and access to healthcare services.”
It emphasizes that gender discrimination, low education level and a lack of empowerment prevent women from seeking care and making the best choices for themselves and their children’s health, which results in critical delays and unnecessary deaths.
The document also examined conflict, disaster and poor governance and noted that complex emergencies present considerable challenges for MNCH, considering such situations marked by a lack of equipment and supplies, poor referral systems, worsening condition of health facilities, loss of human resources for health and deteriorating transportation networks, corruption, authoritarian regimes, weak institutions and limited freedoms. It noted that all these situations can inhibit access to effective care for mothers, newborns and children.
Essentially, the cost of healthcare is un-affordable for many families in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially the poor. Other economic barriers include informal fees, the cost of medicines and tests not supplied in public health facilities, the cost of not working during hospitalization as well as travel, food and accommodation.
Though most of the challenges are daunting, science has shown that simple interventions often work miracles in saving lives. For example, research has shown that single or vertical interventions such as immunization or bed-nets to prevent malaria can reduce mortality. However, a more sustainable solution will be to integrate effective interventions and delivery strategies within existing health system packages. Bridging the artificial divide between vertical approaches, which focus on specific disease priorities and interventions, and horizontal ones, which aim to strengthen the overall structure and functions of the health system, may increase efficiency of delivery and build a result-focused health system.
This all-important approach is what the latest initiative by African scientists proposes as the way forward in the continent’s race towards meeting the MDGs on healthcare delivery. With scientists getting more involved, findings and reports would no longer be academic exercises; they would become tangible actions that would save lives. So, with Science in Action, healthcare may finally get on tract and Africa may begin to surmount its daunting healthcare delivery challenges.
Original Source: 
Original date published: 5 April 2010
Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/201004060615.html?viewall=1