Today we can celebrate multiparty politics, freedom of speech and free primary school education just to mention a few. But for me, after everything that I have learnt in the last year, one of the biggest achievements we need to make noise about is the increase in the number of mothers and babies that have survived childbirth.
Forty nine years of independence. What a milestone. In these 49 years Malawi has achieved a lot, but of course not without challenges. Today we can celebrate multiparty politics, freedom of speech and free primary school education just to mention a few.But for me, after everything that I have learnt in the last year, one of the biggest achievements we need to make noise about is the increase in the number of mothers and babies that have survived childbirth.The past versus the presentAccording to the Demographic Health Survey (DHS), in the year 2000, out of every 100 000 live births, 1120 women and 42 out of every 1000 newborn babies were dying due to pregnant related issues.As I write this, the DHS shows a significant reduction in these statistics. The maternal mortality rate stands at 675 out of every 100 000 and 31 neonates die out of every 1000. How have we done it?This achievement has not happened in a vacuum, it has taken real effort from various stakeholders involved to get to where we are.More than ever before the political will on safe motherhood is strongest in the country. The president of Malawi has made saving the lives of mothers and babies one of her priorities. Through various initiatives, with assistance from the corporate world in and other funding agencies, waiting shelters have been constructed in many health centers and hospitals in the country to help deal with the challenge of distance to hospital and ensure that a lot more mothers are giving birth with the help of skilled birth attendant currently at 71.4 percent.Chiefs in the country have stepped up too. We have seen the establishment of different by-laws in communities that are trying to tackle with the issue of home deliveries. Most common is the goat fine, not so easy to come across in the rural settings of the country.And then there is the restless work by our health service providers- government hospitals, Christian Health Associations of Malawi (CHAM) facilities as well as private institutions. The ratio of one midwife to pregnant women remains on the high side. Still, they push on determined to save as many mothers and babies as they can. We cannot celebrate this achievement without the mention of the donor community. UK Aid, USaid, Norwegian Aid and many others have played their role by funding different programmes through different organization.Peace, prosperity and breakthroughsThe Independence Day theme for this year is peace, prosperity and breakthroughs. Women are the backbone of Malawi and without mothers and babies there is no future. To ensure prosperity we need to save more mothers and babies. I for one, hope to see a bigger breakthrough in the survival of mothers and babies dying in childbirth. This time next year Malawi will be celebrating the golden jubilee of independence. It will be great to see maternal and newborn mortality rates reduced by half.The year after we will be 2015 when we are expected to have achieved Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5: reduce under-five mortality by 50 percent (117 target) and maternal mortality by 75 percent respectively (155 target). It will take new thinking and more efforts by all of us if we are to achieve this. So giddy up and happy Independence Day!!