|
URC/CHS News Archives | Contact us | Home URC/CHS NewsURC's Dr. Stephen Kinoti challenges the East, Central, and Southern African Health Community to act now to reach Millennium Development Goals
URC's Dr. Stephen Kinoti delivered the keynote address on reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) at the East, Central, and Southern African (ECSA) Health Community Best Practices Forum and Directors Joint Consultative meetings in September. In the speech "Improving Access to Quality Health Care to achieve the Millennium Development Goals," Kinoti told ECSA delegates that existing resources could be used to reach MDGs 4, 5, and 6 which address reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, and combating diseases such as HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria among others.
Examples of evidence-based interventions proven to save lives and stop the spread of disease include: Active Management of Third Stage Labor to prevent post-partum hemorrhage, administration of antiretroviral drugs to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS, and large scale distribution and use of insecticide-treated nets to prevent malaria. Kinoti emphasized that to reach the MDGs, ECSA countries must deliver these and other well-known, high-impact interventions. In order to deliver quality services, Kinoti said, “we must strengthen systems throughout the continuum of care." Calling upon leaders in government and health care to renew their commitment to reaching the Millennium Development Goals," he concluded, “we must hold ourselves accountable.” Download: View ESCA newsletter featuring Dr. Kinoti's keynote address
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Kinoti urged delegates, who attended from many African nations, to reflect on what “changes each of us can make to improve quality of care.” He pointed to a need to close the “know-do gap,” the delay between the discovery of effective ways to combat the causes of disease and the application of these proven interventions on a wide scale. Although research shows that high-impact interventions reduce morbidity and mortality, many facilities and practitioners still struggle to put these methods into practice.