African NGO Launches US Arm of Global Campaign to Reduce Maternal Mortality
AMREF’s Stand Up For African Mothers Campaign Aims to Train 15,000 African Midwives by 2015 to Help Reach Millennium Development Goals
July 19, 2012, New York, NY – Dr. Teguest Guerma, Director General of the African Medical & Research Foundation (AMREF), the largest African-led health development organization on the continent, today launched the US arm of its global campaign, Stand Up for African Mothers.
According to the Countdown to 2015 report from the World Health Organization (WHO), the majority of sub-Saharan countries are “unlikely to meet MDG 5a of cutting by three-quarters the maternal mortality ratio between 1990 and 2015.” Every year, 200,000 women die in Africa due to complications in pregnancy and childbirth. These women die for lack of basic, accessible medical care.
This is why AMREF, together with global patron, Graça Machel Mandela, are launching Stand Up For African Mothers. This campaign aims to train 15,000 midwives by 2015 to reduce maternal deaths in Africa. AMREF plans to train the greatest number of midwives in Tanzania (3,800), followed by South Sudan (2,250), Kenya (1,500) and Angola and Mozambique (1,100). The remaining 5,250 midwives will be trained in other countries throughout East, South and West Africa.
“African women are at the center of the social and economic development chain. The death of a mother while giving birth is a big setback for African society. By training more midwives, AMREF is helping deliver an immediate, sustainable solution to reducing maternal mortality in Africa,” says Dr. Teguest Guerma, Director General, AMREF. “A healthy Africa needs healthy mothers and African mothers need African midwives.”
One skilled midwife is able to provide care for 500 mothers every year and safely deliver 100 babies. Fifteen thousand additional midwives by 2015 will ultimately help over seven million African women each year. Midwives save lives. They educate mothers, look after them in pregnancy, assist them during delivery and follow up to make sure mother and baby are healthy.
AMREF has trained health workers, including midwives, for over 54 years. Under the Stand Up for African Mothers campaign, AMREF aims to train 15,000 midwives using diverse methods, including direct entry classroom-based training and competency-based training with technology such as electronic and mobile learning (e and m-learning) to deliver the curricula.
Using their mobile phones, midwives will be able to remotely access world class health education, whether they are in a rural village or in the capital city, and continue to provide services at their health facility as they study. Such enhanced training opportunities in remote areas help keep midwives where they are needed most and are an important deterrent in reducing rural migration to urban areas.
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Midwives of all skill levels will be tapped for training. Among myriad skills, the trainees will learn to manage common delivery complications, such as excessive bleeding, as well as provide mothers with antenatal and postnatal care. They will be trained to recognize signs of complicated labor and to refer women to better equipped health facilities.
Stand Up For African Mothers also involves the symbolic nomination of AMREF trained Ugandan midwife, Esther Madudu, for the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize. By signing the online petition at www.standupforafricanmothers.com, supporters can stand up for Esther Madudu’s candidacy and give all African mothers and midwives a voice with governments and international organizations. AMREF’s goal is to collect one million signatures from around the world to proclaim support for African mothers.
“Esther is a hero, whose dedication to saving the lives of women during pregnancy and childbirth is admirable. She is a symbol representing the tireless work done by African midwives every day,” says Dr. Guerma. With Esther’s nomination, AMREF honors and celebrates all African midwives for the important role they play in saving the lives of mothers and their children.
AMREF believes in a future where no woman dies while giving birth; a future where African women have access to quality care during pregnancy and childbirth. To learn more about Stand Up for African Mothers and how to get involved, visit www.standupforafricanmothers.com. No child should be left an orphan and no mother should have to die to give life.
About AMREF
The African Medical & Research Foundation (AMREF) is the largest African-led health development organization on the continent providing training and health services to over 30 countries in Africa. Founded in 1957 as the Flying Doctors of East Africa to provide critical health care to remote communities, AMREF now focuses on preventative, community based health care. Headquartered in Nairobi, AMREF delivers major programs in Ethiopia, Kenya, Senegal, South Sudan, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda. AMREF is run for and by Africans – over 97 percent of staff is African with more than 90 percent living in the communities where they work. AMREF works side by side with communities to build the knowledge, skills and means to transform their health. www.amref.org
About Dr. Teguest Guerma
Dr. Teguest Guerma, an Ethiopian national, medical doctor and infectious diseases specialist, was appointed Director General of AMREF in June 2010. Dr. Guerma has enjoyed an extensive career in public health and over 26 years experience with the World Health Organization (WHO). Prior to AMREF, Dr. Guerma worked as the Associate Director of the HIV/AIDS department for the WHO in Geneva where she was responsible for their overall strategy on HIV/AIDS. She is the first African woman to lead AMREF since its inception in 1957.
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