lthough most African countries are off-track on most of the Millennium Development Goals- MDGs, Africa has, since the mid-1990s, arguably been making the greatest progress towards the goals. The poverty rate has been declining at about one percentage point a year. There is some evidence that maternal and child mortality in Africa, after stagnating for sometime, is beginning to fall sharply. As African Union Leaders and Policy makers gathered in Kampala, Uganda, the focus is on maternal and child health as a priority challenge.
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2. For the health sector, the target included major reduction in mother and child deaths by 2015, which is barely few years away; in looking at the pace of progress across the country and the continent in general valuable lessons could be extrapolated from the experience of Delta State.
3. Substantial progress has been made in Delta State, as a sub-unit in Nigeria, it is clear that the State is on track to meeting the MDGs targets related to maternal, infant and child health. Maternal Mortality Rate in the State has drastically reduced to 301 per 100,000 live births as against the national figure of 800 per 100,000 live births in 2009.
4. This improved result is a combination of many factors. The Launching of the Free Maternal Health Care Programme in the State in 2007 by the Dr. Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan administration has helped a lot in reducing deaths. Through the programme, all pregnant women are taken care of right from conception to six weeks after delivery, including caesarian section, management of ectopic pregnancies and complicated abortions.
5. The Free Maternal Healthcare Programme has facilitated equitable access to health services, evidenced based decision making, education and behaviour change among our people. To complement the Free Maternal Healthcare Programme, the State has on May 27, 2010 launched the Free Child Healthcare Programme for children under the age of five years. The reduction in maternal, infant and child mortality in Delta State could be among the greatest in Sub-Saharan Africa. So far, access to health services has improved, especially among the rural poor - this is very encouraging.
6. It is clear that more equitable access to health services is related to the government focus on improved primary health care. At the moment the State has 60 hospitals and 346 Primary Health care Centres spread across the State and there is commitment to achieving the health-related Millennium Development Goals.
7. The coordinated approach of the Delta State government could be linked to the better outcomes and quality of services, and in turn to MDGs progress, especially that relating to maternal, infant and child survival. The implementation of the campaign to protect children under age five from malaria, through the provision of free long lasting Insecticide Treated Nets, and anti-malarial drugs to under five children, including increased emphasis on immunization coverage make Delta State's child health related MDG targets look even more attainable.
8. It is essential to acknowledge the contributions of the Development-Partners, particularly UNICEF, GLRA, UNFPA and WHO for their immense technical and financial support in bringing about these successes. While it is as yet early, it is noteworthy that valuable lessons could be obtained from the Delta State progress. However, the Progress needs to be replicated fast to close the gap on health related MDGs in Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa. If the Delta State approach is adopted more widely, Nigeria and indeed Africa could achieve more maternal and child health goals - perhaps not by 2015, but in the not too distant future.
*** Innocent A. Ojefia, Lectures Political Science at the Delta State University, Abraka, Nigeria.
