Dr. Keith Martin, Member of Parliament for Esquimalt – Juan de Fuca recently introduced a motion in Parliament that calls on the Canadian government to work with its international partners to create a Global Fund for Maternal and Child Health. “Such a plan could be implemented at this summer’s G8 Summit in Ontario,” said Dr. Martin.
“Time is running out for our government to articulate their plan for the summit. The announcement of a Global Fund would provide a framework for funding an accountable plan of action that would address these most neglected of the Millennium Development Goals,” said Dr. Martin.
As the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health (PMNCH) has noted, there is a broad consensus among governments, NGOs, and civil society groups that an additional $30 billion is needed between 2009 and 2015 to accelerate progress on MDGs 4 and 5, with annual incremental costs ranging from $2.5 billion in 2009 to $5.5 billion in 2015. This investment would help to prevent up to one million deaths of women due to pregnancy and childbirth and save the lives of 4.5 million newborns and 6.5 million children.
“In order to accomplish this, each G8 nation should take a leadership role in one of the key inputs needed to provide primary care in developing countries. For example, the Americans could be the lead country in training health care workers, Canada could take the lead on access to clean water and sanitation or food security and micronutrients, and the French could champion people’s access to a full array of family planning options, including access to safe abortions in countries where it is legal. In this way G8 nations could coordinate their efforts with each other, with recipient nations, NGOs, foundations, and large multi-lateral organizations,” said Dr. Martin.
Enabling people to access primary care will not only address the five major obstetric complications that cause the vast majority of maternal deaths and disabilities (obstructed labour, haemorrhage, sepsis, eclampsia, and as a consequence of a septic abortion), it also provides the tools to treat 80 per cent of the problems that come through an emergency department. This includes the world’s major killers: pneumonia, gastroenteritis, malaria, tuberculosis, malnutrition, and HIV/AIDS.
“This summer, the G8 leaders have an opportunity to create the most profound impact on the health and economic future of the world’s poorest people. The absence of a plan and the politicization of this issue over the last several months must not detract us from taking the lead and saving these people’s lives. The creation of a Global Fund for Maternal and Child Health will effectively focus resources and actions to those who need it the most,” said Dr. Martin.
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