A Day in the Life of a Maternal, Newborn Health Advocate
By Sizarina Hamisi, Advocacy Program Manager for White Ribbon Alliance Tanzania
Being pregnant in Tanzania is dangerous. Every day, 24 women die while giving birth and 144 newborns lose their life the day it begins.
This is why I recently went to the Lake Zone to launch White Ribbon Alliance Tanzania’s campaign “Zero Tolerance to Maternal Death, Be Accountable” in three districts there.
The campaign calls for an increase in the government’s budget for lifesaving Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (CEmONC) services at health facilities throughout Tanzania.
The three Tanzanian districts of Musoma, Busega and Ilemela lead the nation in maternal mortality rates.
Armed with 2016/17 budget data which indicates under-funding of emergency services in the districts’ health facilities, I joined forces with Nyagwegwe Wango, the Program Manager from UMATI, a WRA Tanzania member organization based in Lake Zone, for meetings in the three districts.
The launch focused on gaps in emergency services for pregnant women in the districts, with a particular focus on increasing the budget to address gaps found in the 2017/18 health budgets.
Our first stop was Musoma District, where we had a meeting with 30 officials from the local health facilities and the District Medical Officer. We shared the budget for the district and collectively discussed how to address the identified gaps.
The meeting concluded on an incredibly positive note when the District Medical Officer (DMO) directed that from now on “each health facility in the district will budget for delivery kits, neonatal medicines and employing an anesthetist in addition to already identified CEmONC gaps.”
I was overjoyed WRA Tanzania was able to help guide the direction of Musoma District’s 2017/18 budget, and felt proud that it will now include vital lifesaving services in seven health facilities because the District Medical Officer understood the importance of CEmONC in his community.
Three hundred and forty-two women died last year when giving birth in this region.
With the success of Musoma District behind us, we next traveled to Busega District, where we met another 30 service providers from two health facilities. Three hundred and forty-two women died last year when giving birth in this region. We shared maternal death statistics and details of the budget which is underfunded for emergency services. While recognizing that there are still challenges when addressing the deaths of women who die during birth, the acting DMO committed to working with health facilities to improve services for pregnant women.
Our final stop was at Ilemela District in the Mwanza Region, where 56 women died while giving birth within one year. Health workers from two health facilities shared their experiences with the current lack of emergency health services at their facilities. Among the gaps identified was the scarcity of safe blood and oxygen machines. The team committed to addressing the gaps in the next budget of 2017/18.
Traveling 280 kilometers by road from Musoma to Busega and finally Mwanza, was an exhausting journey. However, I was not deterred. I felt energetic throughout the trip knowing that the efforts will eventually bring positive change in the CEmONC budget, and will one day save the lives of the tens of women and hundreds of newborns who die each day in Tanzania.
To learn more about WRA Tanzania’s life-saving work, please click HERE.
