Written by Administrator Friday, 30 July 2010 08:08
"Men are no longer the reason behind the death of women during childbirth, Mothers-in-law are the ones that demand to take care of the young pregnant girls and usually dictate to them on where they should give birth," a sad professor said adding that most studies carried out revealed that reproductive matters are no longer based on men but social networks like mother-in-laws.
The disclosure was made during a public lecture delivered by Dr Obaid Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, the executive director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) held at Makerere University. It was titled "Reproductive Health and Rights-Perspectives for Further Development in Africa"
The study, carried out in the districts of Kiboga, Soroti, Mbarara, Mbale,Gulu and Masindi, cited the diverse cultures and norms of society as another issue affecting reproductive health. "Some women prefer to squat when giving birth for purposes of privacy yet this can not be done in our health units. Pregnant women with such cultural beliefs therefore shun hospitals but expose their lives to danger," she warned.
The professor who said she was happy about the theme of this year's OAU summit (maternal, infant and child health development in Africa), urged government to realize the urgency and need for addressing the issue of marital deaths adding, "it's clear that the current trend of 16 mothers dying due to reproductive health daily is not helping the development of our country, we need to act now," she said.
She wondered why Uganda was failing in the drive to prevent marital death yet substantial amounts of money were being invested in the exercise by both the government and donors.
Dr Obaid Thoraya Ahmed, the chief speaker at the event, informed the audience that in Africa, women farmers, traders, teachers and mothers make huge contributions to the well being of their families and nations yet they remain suffering from lack of healthcare, education and discrimination. This, she said, holds back progress. She observed that "when women are healthy and empowered, their newborns are more likely to survive, children to thrive and these benefits carry through to the next generations."
She commended delegates to the just concluded OAU summit held in Uganda for acknowledging and maintaining their support for the Abuja declaration which require that every government contributes a minimum of 15% in its national budget to reproductive health.
She encouraged the youth and young politicians to always support programmes on reproductive health for the development of Africa. She cited Rwanda as a country with the highest percentage of women members of parliament something which has helped improve the country's standards of health and education and in effect resulting to a low mortality death rate.
Reproductive health is the main cause of illness and death among women of child-bearing age in Uganda.
By Brian Muhumuza blog comments powered by Disqus
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