Topics of Discussion

Participants to the meeting of April 7th addressed the MDGs, the World Health Report on Maternal and Child Health and the successes and challenges of maternal, newborn and child health in India, as well as:

1. health systems requirements, including the current human resources crisis
2. partnerships with women, families and communities to influence the health of mothers, newborns and children
3. national budgets and financing for maternal, newborn and child health services
4. monitoring progress towards the achievement of MDGs 4 and 5

How all these maternal, newborn and child health aspects come together with issues outside the health sector, such as poverty, education, legal structures/provisions was also be addressed. Some case studies on the challenges and successes of national plans for Maternal, Newborn and Child health were presented.

Twelve developing countries and a wide range of national and international stakeholders, including the UN Agencies, the donor community, non-governmental organizations, professional organizations, multilaterals, bilaterals, academia and the media all participated. The countries represented included: Bangladesh, Bolivia, Cambodia, Canada, Ethiopia, India, Mali, Mozambique, Nepal, Pakistan, Tanzania and Uganda. The country participants will consisted of six ministers, as well as senior level health and financial policy developers and senior ministerial planners and decision-makers. The international development partners and other stakeholders present contributed to the meeting as counterparts to the country delegations in planning for and commitment to the MNCH agenda.

The meeting on April 8th was geared toward the presentation of developing country challenges and success stories, the discussion of policy and planning implications and the development of recommendations for regional and country level responses. It looked at key elements for scaling up successful implementation of Maternal, Newborn and Child Health programmes, such as increasing the existing coverage of effective interventions, the effective use of existing human and financial resources at national and international levels and further development of national stakeholders groups.