With almost 500 days to go to the attainment of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, Sierra Leone will not meet Goals 4 and 5 on the reduction of maternal and infant deaths.
According to Amina Muhammed, UN Assistant Secretary General and Special Adviser to Ban Ki-Moon on Post-2015 Development Agenda, Africa is lagging behind in especially these areas.
At present six mothers and 27 newborns die every day in Sierra Leone, according to Mamaye a campaign group on maternal and child health, with the country ranked by the World Health Organisation as the worst place in the world for a women to be pregnant.
Amina said the MDGs 4 and 5 are beyond reach but that some other things could be done in the next 500 days., saying nutrition, antenatal and prenatal care as well as obstetric care could be stepped up in the remaining days to save the gloomy picture for mothers and babies. "These are things we must do" she said.
She blamed the poor showing on leadership which she said occasioned by people who wanted to see tangible things to win the next election, saying "lack of leadership has contributed" to the nonattainment of "these crucial goals".
"The competing demands of what an electorate is looking for as dividends of democracy and the kind so investments you need to make in saving people's lives are very different" Amina said, attibuting that to the fact that " you can never really see and touch what you did with money to strengthen a health care system or an education system."
The smooth-speaking Nigeria woman said to "build this or give that..[which] are tangible" are the preferences of some African leaders.
Amina said "maternal health and child health systems have to be in place" and called for the strengthening of human resources to build the health sector.
"You can't manufacture a midwife or a doctor...you must build you primary health care centres. You must put commodities in...You must put midwifes in them. You must be able to access those places, so water must be there on a continuous basis [and] power must be there" she said.
(C) Politico 15/07/14
