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Putting
Children's Health First
Tuesday,
November 24, 2009
By
Francis W. Nyepon
The
survival and development of children in Liberia ought to be classified as a
fundamental human right. Children health indicators such as maternal
and infant mortality rate
are the engine needed to stimulate social transformation, and insure that
poverty is systematically reduced amongst all ages of children especially in
Liberia’s national development plan, called Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS).
This
author believes that the Sirleaf administration needs to initiate a spirited
strategy to deliver efficient and effective services to improve the lives of
women and children to ensure that the health of children is put first on the
national agenda. The time has come for the Ministry
of Health and Social Welfare to develop and define such strategy to combat
children’s health issues. This strategy must be
developed with other ministries to impact change and social transformation.
Ministries which should be incorporated in this strategy include Gender and
Development, Education and Internal Affairs, as well as representatives of civil
society, academia, and the donor community and the general Liberian population.
This
author holds the view that the sole purpose of such a strategy would be to
reduce health inequalities amongst children by reversing the downward trend in
national health-related indicators. In such an endeavor, geography should never
have to play any meaningful role. This
author also believes that this strategy would be the kind of tool needed to
raise national awareness, understanding, and commitment to maternal and child
survival and development nationwide. And by so doing, the author is confident
that the Sirleaf administration would be assuring all Liberian children of their
right to life, survival, development and the pursuit of happiness.
Liberia
has one of the highest numbers of newborn deaths in Africa, with a neo-natal
mortality rate of 38 per 1,000 live births - approximately over 20,000 deaths
every year, according to independent reports by the World Health Organization
(WHO), and UNICEF, the UN Children’s Fund. More
than 15 percent of babies born in Liberia die before their first birthday, and
25 percent of children die before their 5th birthday, according to a recent UN
report. Equally important is the fact that Liberian women are nearly three times
more likely to die during pregnancy or childbirth than women in other parts of
the world. This is because the country’s birth rate is 235 per 100,000 live
births.
Also,
the World Health Organization (WHO) says that Liberia is one of the top ten
riskiest countries in the world for giving birth.
The organization adds that an estimated 80 percent of maternal deaths
could be avoided if women had access to basic healthcare. For example, teenage
pregnancy is a contributing factor to higher maternal and infant mortality rate
because 23 percent of adolescent girls are estimated to have given birth before
the age of 18. Also, UNICEF states that one in four children in Liberia lives in
abject poverty; while 75 percent of children have no access to adequate toilets.
Liberia
needs
a policy roadmap that documents and describes key strategies needed to impact
child health in order to move the country forward, and the Ministry of Health is
well aware of the simple, key, evidence-based, cost-effective, and high impact
interventions that can prevent childhood illnesses and deaths. These measures,
which the ministry should be vigorously and enthusiastically championing include
mandatory scaling up of mosquito nets; compulsory breastfeeding and
complementary feeding; antenatal care and clean delivery; scaling up oral
rehydration therapy and increasing access to safe water, hygiene, sanitation and
proper garbage collection.
This
author believes that this kind of strategy could help Liberia achieve its
millennium challenges and child survival goals under the Poverty Reduction
Strategy. But this would only come about provided officials at the Ministry of
Health and Social Welfare scale up the identified interventions, and provide
adequate resources instead of wasting valuable time on convincing the population
that poor people have no right to give their children up for adoption or
relinquish their right to parent a child if they so chose.
UNICEF
usually instigates and promotes ridiculous policies on inter-country adoption in
Liberia and other developing countries, in order to justify enormous funding for
its administrative staff and overhead. As a result, the right to child survival
and development remained unfulfilled for many children in Liberia because
Liberia lacks safe drinking water, proper sanitation services, adequate food
supply and distribution, proper healthcare and quality education and protection
systems for children, as well as proper governance to put all these in place.
What
a joke, contradiction, and miscarriage of justice in promoting fundamental human
rights for children in Liberia by UNICEF, when inter-country adoption has been
completely remove from the discussion table without any question by those
fronting for UNICEF, but all the while pretending to be administering the
department of Social Welfare in the Ministry of Health in the interest of the
people of Liberia. Who’s fooling whom here? Is UNICEF misleading the Liberian
people on inter-country adoption? Or, are officials at the Ministry of Health
working in the interest of the Liberian people after getting free reward trips
to Geneva for doing UNICEF bidding?
The
major challenge for putting children health first in Liberia is implementation
of innovative programs by the Ministry of Health. A simple child survival and
development strategy is long overdue in Liberia, given the level of
international goodwill, skilled Liberians returning, and the commitment of
President Sirleaf towards children and women’s issues. The Ministry of Health
needs to encourage more Liberians into pediatric care in order to save the lives
and unnecessary deaths of innocent children. National policy on children’s
issues must be comprehensive and not one-sided to satisfy the political agenda
of UNICEF and other international development agencies.
This
author believes that many health practitioners in Liberia know exactly what
needs to be done; however, the problem for some is, how do they implement such
strategies with strings and lack of political will at the Ministry of Health?
Most of these strategies are the same that have been adopted in the West African
sub-region. What’s needed, this author is convinced is a national
implementation strategy, and then taking them to scale. Let’s admit here so as
to not leave a false impression. Liberia is making progress, even significant
strides in some of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), but conversely, the
country is lagging far behind in the child and maternal health area simply
because of the lack of political will at the Ministries of Health and
Gender.
Priorities
are not organized at the Ministry of Health, therefore, tangible solutions
regarding basic preventable healthcare are not forthcoming. Due to such
lopsidedness, disparities in health provision throughout the country are not
adequately addressed with urgency. Child survival is not only for the Ministry
of Health; it is the responsibility of all Liberians; and the responsibility of
all members of the greater society.
Francis
W. Nyepon
is
a policy analyst and Vice-Chair of The Center for Security, Development
& Development Studies. He is a political economist who has written
extensively on the socio-economic and political development in
Liberia
. He is managing partner of the DUCOR Waste Management Company. He can be
reached at: fnyepon@Gmail.com
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