Luis Tam

March 26, 2015

[2]A postnatal woman with her newborn and mother-in-law.Photo credit: Emily Phillips/MSH Afghanistan

Last month I represented Management Sciences for Health (MSH) at Oxfam India [9]’s South Asia Consultation on Maternal Health in Kathmandu, Nepal. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss significant maternal health programming experiences in Afghanistan [10], Bangladesh [11], India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, and to suggest strategic directions for Oxfam India’s future maternal health programming. More than 30 representatives from governments, national and international universities, and nongovernmental organizations attended.

Three elements of improving maternal health outcomes [12] stood out in my mind from discussions at the meeting:

Acting on the Call: A Turning Point for Maternal Health [14]

Fragile States [3]

Health Systems Strengthening [4]

Women & Gender [8]

[14]Abuja National Hospital, Nigeria.Photo credit: Gwenn Dubourthoumieu.

In years to come we will look back on the summer of 2014 and recall the US Agency for International Development (USAID)’s Acting on the Call: Ending Preventable Child and Maternal Deaths [15] campaign as a turning point [16] in our struggle to reduce maternal, newborn, and child mortality and morbidity. USAID announced [17] this summer that it is realigning $2.9 billion of the Agency’s resources to refocus on high-impact programs with proven track records to save women, newborns, and children under five.

Read more [14]

Links
[1] https://msh.org/blog/2015/03/26/three-ways-to-improve-maternal-health-reflections-from-south-asia#comments
[2] https://msh.org/blog/2015/03/26/three-ways-to-improve-maternal-health-reflections-from-south-asia
[3] https://msh.org/blog-categories/fragile-states
[4] https://msh.org/blog-categories/health-systems-strengthening
[5] https://msh.org/blog-categories/hiv-aids
[6] https://msh.org/blog-categories/universal-health-coverage
[7] https://msh.org/blog-categories/us-global-health-policy
[8] https://msh.org/blog-categories/women-gender
[9] http://www.oxfamindia.org/
[10] https://www.msh.org/our-work/country/afghanistan
[11] https://www.msh.org/our-work/country/bangladesh
[12] https://www.msh.org/our-work/health-area/maternal-newborn-child-health
[13] https://msh.org/blog/2014/09/18/acting-on-the-call-a-turning-point-for-maternal-health#comments
[14] https://msh.org/blog/2014/09/18/acting-on-the-call-a-turning-point-for-maternal-health
[15] http://www.usaid.gov/ActingOnTheCall
[16] http://www.msh.org/blog/2014/06/24/acting-on-the-call-ending-preventable-child-and-maternal-deaths
[17] http://www.usaid.gov/news-information/press-releases/june-25-2014-usaid-and-partners-unveil-new-efforts-save-millions-women-children-preventable-deaths

Three Ways to Improve Maternal Health: Reflections from South Asia [2]

Acting on the Call: A Turning Point for Maternal Health [14]