Achieving MGD 5 is a Difficult Task But Possible If Partners Play Their Roles Effectively



Ghana has only a year or 24 months left to achieve the health-related MDG 5 which focuses on reducing maternal mortality from the unacceptably high levels currently found in developing countries. 

In view of this the Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service have prioritized maternal health as an important focus area for 2015. This is because of the current high maternal mortality rates and lack of progress in reducing maternal deaths in the country. 

In furtherance of this agenda, the Ministry of Health has met with its Millennium Development Goal Accelerated Framework implementation agencies and development partners to firm up the MDGs Operational Plan of activities and their funding scenarios for effective implementation in 2015. 

Even though this is seen as a difficult task, to many, it can be surmounted if all the implementation agencies and development partners play their respective roles effectively. At the opening of a two-day meeting a couple of weeks ago in Accra, the Coordinator of the Ghana MDG Acceleration Framework of the Policy, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Directorate of the MoH, Dr. Emmanuel Odame, said that even though there are elaborate activities for the attainment of the MDG 5, the budgetary allocations for these activities over the past years have been woefully inadequate. 

He noted that even though the MoH has invested in both maternal and reproductive health services since 1990, these investments have fallen short of putting the country on tract to reach the 75 percent reduction of the maternal mortality rate.

According to the latest estimates by the Maternal Mortality Estimation on Inter-Agency Group, the rate in Ghana was 380 per 100,000 live births in 2013. If it continues to reduce at the current pace by 2015, the rate will only reach 358 per 100,000 live births. to this end, Ghana will attain its 2015 MDG 5 target in 2037. 

Clearly, it can be noted that the slow progress in reducing maternal mortality rate has been of great concern to policy and decision makers to the extent that Maternal Mortality was declared a national emergency in July 2008. 

In response to these concerns, Ghana’s MDG framework was developed to augment implementation of the Maternal and Child Health programme with the objective of attaining the MDG indicators and targets.

Notwithstanding the progress made towards achieving Ghana's MDG Accelerated Framework targets, a number of challenges including financing, implementation, uncoordinated monitoring and evaluation as well as reporting have been a headache to all concerned and the meeting was therefore timely and in an effort to address these challenges especially that of financing and the way forward even after 2015. 

Indeed, under the circumstances Ghana finds itself, it needs nothing short of high level funding. The UN estimates that the annual rate in reduction of the Maternal Mortality Rate is three point four perecent, suggesting that even though Ghana is making progress, it is insufficient to attain the national MDG target of 185 per 100,000 by 2015. 

Since all proposed MDG's Accelerated Framework interventions are well known to all the development partners and are evidence-based, cost effective and aligned to national plans and strategies, the UN agencies, other development partners and Civil Society Organizations should as a matter of urgency support the MOH and all its MDG's.

Accelerated Framework implementing agencies with the required financial and material resources to enable Ghana achieve MDG 5 by the end of 2015.
 
Yes,Ghana can.


By Dan Osman Mwin of the Ministry of Health