AFRICAN PANORAMA
WATCHING THROUGH THE BIRDS' EYES
The survival and development of children in Liberia ought to be classified as a fundamental human right. Children health indicators such as maternal and infant mortality rate are the engine needed to stimulate social transformation and insure that poverty is systematically reduced amongst all ages of children especially in Liberia’s national development plan, called Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS).
This author believes that the Sirleaf administration needs to initiate a spirited strategy to deliver efficient and effective services to improve the lives of women and children to ensure that the health of children is put first on the national agenda. The time has come for the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to develop and define such strategy to combat children’s health issues. This strategy must be developed with other line ministries to impact change and social transformation. Ministries which should be incorporated in this strategy include Gender and Development, Education and Internal Affairs as well as representatives of civil society, academia, and the donor community as well as the general Liberian population.
This author holds the view that the sole purpose of such a strategy would be to reduce health inequalities amongst children by reversing the downward trend in national health-related indicators. In such an endeavor, geography should never have to play any meaningful role. This author also believes that this strategy would be the kind of tool needed to raise national awareness, understanding and commitment to maternal and child survival and development nationwide. And by so doing, the author is confident that the Sirleaf administration would be assuring all Liberian children of their right to life, survival, development and the pursuit of happiness.
Liberia has one of the highest numbers of newborn deaths in Africa, with a neo-natal mortality rate of 38 per 1,000 live births - approximately over 20,000 deaths every year according to independent reports by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF, the UN Children’s Fund. More than 15 percent of babies born in Liberia die before their first birthday, and 25 percent of children die before their 5th birthday, according to a recent UN report. Equally important is the fact that Liberian women are nearly three times more likely to die during pregnancy or childbirth than women in other parts of the world. This is because the country’s birth rate is 235 per 100,000 live births.
Also, the World Health Organization (WHO) says that Liberia is one of the top ten riskiest countries in the world for giving birth. The organization adds that an estimated 80 percent of maternal deaths could be avoided if women had access to basic healthcare. For example, teenage pregnancy is a contributing factor to higher maternal and infant mortality rate because 23 percent of adolescent girls are estimated to have given birth before the age of 18. Also, UNICEF states that one in four children in Liberia lives in abject poverty; while 75 percent of children have no access to adequate toilets.
Liberia needs a policy roadmap that documents and describes key strategies needed to impact child health in order to move the country forward, and the Ministry of Health is well aware of the simple, key, evidence-based, cost-effective and high impact interventions that can prevent childhood illnesses and deaths. These measures which the ministry should be vigorously and enthusiastically championing include mandatory scaling up of misquote nets; compulsory breastfeeding and complementary feeding; antenatal care and clean delivery; scaling up oral rehydration therapy and increasing access to safe water, hygiene, sanitation and proper garbage collection.
This author believes that this kind of strategy could help Liberia achieve its millennium challenges and child survival goals under the Poverty Reduction Strategy. But this would only come about provided officials at the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare scale up the identified interventions and provide adequate resources instead of wasting valuable time on convincing the population that poor people have no right to give their children up for adoption or relinquish their right to parent a child if they so chose.
UNICEF that usually instigate and promote ridiculous policies on inter-country adoption in Liberia and other developing countries in order to justify enormous funding for its administrative staff and overhead, says that the right to child survival and development remained unfulfilled for many children in Liberia because Liberia lacks safe drinking water, proper sanitation services, adequate food supply and distribution, proper healthcare and quality education and protection systems for children, as well as proper governance to put all these in place.
What a joke and contradiction and miscarriage of justice in promoting fundamental human rights for children in Liberia by UNICEF, when inter-country adoption has been completely remove from the discussion table without any question by those fronting for UNICEF, but all the while pretending to be administering the department of Social Welfare in the Ministry of Health in the interest of the people of Liberia. Who’s fooling whom here? Is UNICEF misleading the Liberian people on inter-country adoption? Or, are officials at the Ministry of Health working in the interest of the Liberian people after getting free reward trips to Geneva for doing UNICEF bidding?
The major challenge for putting children health first in Liberia is implementation of innovative programs by the Ministry of Health. A simple child survival and development strategy is long overdue in Liberia given the level of international goodwill, skilled Liberians returning and commitment of President Sirleaf towards children and women’s issues. The Ministry of Health needs to encourage more Liberians into pediatric care in order to save the lives and unnecessary deaths of innocent children. National policy on children’s issues must be comprehensive and not one-sided to satisfy the political agenda of UNICEF and other international development agencies.
This author believes that many health practitioners in Liberia know exactly what needs to be done; however, the problem for some is, how do they implement such strategies with strings and lack of political will at the Ministry of Health? Most of these strategies are the same that have been adopted in the West African sub-region; what’s needed, this author is convinced is a national implementation strategy and then taking them to scale. Let’s admit here so as to not leave a false impression. Liberia is making progress even significant strides in some of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) but conversely the country is lagging far behind in the child and maternal health area simple because of the lack of political will at the Ministries of Health and Gender. Priorities are not organized at the Ministry of Health therefore tangible solutions regarding results to basic preventable healthcare are not forthcoming. Due to such lopsidedness, disparities issues in health provision throughout the country are not adequately addressed with urgency. Child survival is not only for the Ministry of Health; it is the responsibility of all Liberians; it is the responsibility of all members of the greater society.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Francis W. Nyepon is a policy analyst and Vice-Chair of The Center for Security, Development & Development Studies. He is a political economist who has written extensively on the socio-economic and political development in Liberia . He is managing partner of the DUCOR Waste Management Company. He can be reached at: fnyepon@Gmail.com
LIBERIA: PUTTING CHILDREN'S HEALTH FIRST
LIBERIA: PUTTING CHILDREN'S HEALTH FIRST
