Year: 2017
Type: editorial
Abstract: Richard M.K. Adanu Editor, IJGO The year 2015 marked the end of the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) era and saw the introduction of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which seek to “end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all.”1 The SDGs are made up of 17 goals with a total of 169 targets that are to be achieved by 2030. The MDGs successfully highlighted maternal health as an issue of global importance and, even though the target of reducing maternal deaths by 75% was not achieved globally, many governments and their corresponding ministries of health made major efforts to improve maternal survival. The role of professional associations and health workers involved in maternal health care in galvanizing action related to MDG5 should also be greatly commended. With the many goals and targets of the SDGs, it is easy to overlook the contribution that different health professionals can make. The SDGs have one overarching health goal: SDG 3 aims to “[e]nsure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.”2 One general theme that runs through all the goal 3 targets is universal access to health care. Notably, the first target under this third goal is to reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100 000 live births by 2030, demonstrating that the SDGs seek to build on the gains made as part of MDG5. As team leaders in the delivery of maternal health care, obstetricians need to continue at the forefront of the efforts to continue reducing maternal mortality. Effective interventions to reduce maternal mortality need to be implemented at national and subnational levels to achieve the global target. National societies of obstetricians and gynecologists need to rally their members and get them involved in maternal mortality reduction efforts at the national level. The efforts of individual obstetricians on labor and delivery units to ensure maternal and newborn survival are highly commendable, but additional work is needed to effectively reduce maternal mortality. National societies of obstetricians and gynecologists need to assume the responsibility of ensuring that all skilled birth attendants are well trained. Focusing only on the training and certification of obstetricians and gynecologists will not result in the rate of reduction of maternal mortality that SDG3 demands. The national curricula for the training of midwives, nurses, and doctors must have enough content to ensure that pregnancy and delivery complications can be recognized early and treated. Furthermore, obstetricians should also be directly involved in the teaching and certification of these healthcare workers. The support of governments in the fight to end preventable maternal mortality is extremely important. Clinicians need to be actively involved in the engagement of policy makers on this issue. National societies should work to ensure that their members have the necessary advocacy skills to attract governmental support. Most obstetricians are trained to make presentations on maternal health to fellow experts in the field; national societies should therefore work with communication experts to provide the necessary additional training for their members. They also need to work closely with local civil society organizations and journalists involved in advocacy for maternal health to facilitate the presentation of local and international research on maternal health in ways that clearly convey the important messages to policy makers. It is also important for all national societies to be actively involved in the design and review of national policies on maternal health. Executive members of national societies of obstetricians and gynecologists should have a close working relationship with their respective Ministry of Health and with other agencies that lead policy formulation. In addition to SDG3, obstetrician–gynecologists need to support the fifth goal: “[a]chieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.”3 The targets of this goal are directed at violence against women, harmful cultural practices, and varied forms of discrimination. One indicator of female empowerment is the literacy level among women, and it is known that countries with high female literacy levels tend to have better sexual reproductive health indicators as well as lower maternal mortality ratios.4 Efforts made to empower women today will not immediately reduce the number of clinical pregnancy and delivery complications that lead to preventable maternal deaths, but they will ensure that there are fewer of these events in the future, thereby ultimately reducing maternal mortality. Obstetricians and gynecologists are the physicians of women and girls, and are generally well respected worldwide. We are the ones who see and treat many of the negative clinical effects of discrimination against women and girls. However, we are rather silent in the fight to ensure gender equality and empower women and girls. National societies of obstetricians and gynecologists should be major players in efforts to eliminate discrimination against women and girls in their countries. The negative clinical effects of violence and female genital mutilation that we see in our clinics must be highlighted, and the link between female empowerment and maternal mortality explained to policy makers. The International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) is very much involved in all these things at the global level. FIGO Officers and the Chairs of its Committees and Working Groups actively participate in important discussions and policy formulation. Nevertheless, it is important that the members of FIGO—national societies—are seen to be equally active in their countries. If this happens, obstetricians and gynecologists will make major contributions to achieving the SDGs. The International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics is committed to supporting the efforts of national societies, and we will be extremely happy to review and publish papers on what societies are doing and the results of these activities.
DOI: 10.1002/ijgo.12346
Author: Richard M.K. Adanu
Institution: University of Ghana
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2766983222