Forum: World Health Organization Topic: Maternal Health Main Submitters: The United Kingdom Signatories: France, Federative Republic of Brazil, the Republic of India, Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, The Islamic Republic of Iran, Mexico, Germany, South Korea, Niger, Somalia, Norway, Rwanda,the Republic of South Africa
THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION, Recognising fully the significance of improving maternal health in the process of nationwide development, Acknowledging this normal, lifeaffirming process carries with it inherently serious risks of death and disability, Understanding that most of these deaths could be avoided if preventive measures were taken and adequate care made available, Noting with concern the difficulty of meeting the targets of maternal health as set by the Millennium Development Goals, Recognising that current mechanisms put in place by the WHO have achieved more than 50% decrease in maternal deaths, Noting further the importance of reviewing existing policies, Emphasizing the need for policies dealing with the enforcement of said policies, 1. Reaffirms the universal right to maternal health as enshrined in the Millennium Development Goals, and revises the details of Goal 5 as follows: a) Extends target date from 2015 to 2025; b) Change target 5.B to read ‘Achieve universal access to reproductive care; 2. Recommends intervention by the WHO in four priority areas: a) Developing the capacity for all parties involved in reproduction to: i. Remain in good health; ii. Make choice beneficial to own health; iii. Respond to obstetric and neonatal emergencies;
b) Increasing awareness of the rights, needs and potential problems related to maternal and newborn health; c) Strengthening linkages for social support between all parties involved in reproduction with the health care delivery system; d) Improving quality of care and health services; 3. Encourages all nations to amend the appropriate syllabuses of their respective education systems to provide education of the knowledge and skills to act, maintain, promote and improve maternal and newborn health including: a) Intrapersonal factors such as: i. Knowledge; ii. Attitudes; iii. Behaviours; iv. Selfconcept; v. Skills; b) Interpersonal processes such as: i. Social support systems; ii. Families; iii. Work groups; c) Institutional factors including social and health institutions; d) Public policy including local and national laws and policies that aim to improve maternal and newborn health; 4. Recommends all countries to implement means for reinforcing the contents of WHO publication, referring to the compilation of WHO recommendations on maternal, newborn, child and adolescent; 5. Appeals for nations to introduce universal coverage of financing schemes through national health insurance, microinsurance, rural health insurance and revolving drug funds which provide for: a) Maternal and newborn health services, b) Access and treatment for obstetric and neonatal emergencies; 6. Instructs all nations to adhere to a communitydriven quality framework where, a) Quality must be defined through interaction between the community and the health worker b) A shared vision for healthcare is developed, c) The community and health worker works in partnership for quality improvement with the goals of: i. Better health,
ii. Reducing unmet need, iii. Improve quality, iv. Increase utilization; 7. Encourages the establishment of District Management Group (DMG) in all local regions where maternal health is an issue that requires immediate addressing, where: a) The group shall be made up of about 612 active representatives of local stakeholders, b) The functions of the Group include: i. Designing a methodology to be used for literature review, informant interviews and focus group discussion, ii. Identify key stakeholders including community representatives who will be consulted during the planning process, iii. Define a timeline as well as roles and responsibilities for actors involved in the planning process, iv. Collect required data, v. Analyze said data, vi. Coordinate with the Maternal Policy Implementation Department to draft a local Maternal Health Strategy (MNH) detailing approaches to strengthening proposed programme implementation, including: 1. Quality assurance; 2. Outreach services; 3. Referral and counterreferral systems; 4. Maternal death audits; 5. Training of Integrated Management of Pregnancy & Childbirth guidelines; 6. District grants; 7. Equipment and supplies for maternity care; 8. Data collection, analysis and dissemination; 9. Vital registration systems; 10. Equity issues; 11. Coordination meetings with stakeholders; 12. Evaluation processes; vii. Mobilizing the local population to persuade the regional government to allocate adequate resources towards the country and regional strategies to be deliberated upon by the MPID, within the context of the overall funds available; 8. Resolves to create the Maternal Policy Implementation Department (MPID), where members of the committee shall be nominated and chosen with special attention to regions that are foreseen to fail to meet Millennium Development Goal 5, with the purpose of: a) Reviewing biannually the set of recommended policies and protocols by the WHO;
b) Conceptualizing and planning effective strategies for policy implementation through the following approaches: i. Country strategies; ii. Regional strategies; iii. Global strategies; c) Overseeing the implementation of policies and protocols as recommended by the WHO in nations; d) Communicate with individual regions on the local scale through the DMGs to create a longterm channel through which parties are able to formulate local MNHs for the increase utilization and improvement in the quality of healthcare services; e) Allocation of material resources towards DMGs and strategy implementation; f) Create and oversee a plenary committee where a wide range of stakeholders are invited to participate in the planning process through a participatory approach, including: i. Policy makers; ii. Health managers; iii. Health professionals; iv. Community representatives; v. Civil society/Nongovernmental organisations; vi. Academic/Research Institutions; vii. Representatives of other sectors; viii. Regional development partners; ix. Resource mobilization partners; g) Monitor and evaluate biannually the situation on maternal health and compile a report to be sent to the general body of the WHO for review; 9. Encourages the building of linkages between Nongovernmental organisations with governments and agencies in the international, regional, national, provincial and district levels to impact positively on health systems.