The Minister of Health and Public Hygiene, Dr. Eugène Aka Aka AOUÉLÉ, presided over the ceremony to launch the 2019 edition of the national campaign for the promotion of maternal, newborn and child health on April 5, 2019 at the headquarters of the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Foundation for Peace Research in Yamoussoukro. This ceremony was organized by the National Health and Children’s Programme in the presence of representatives of partner organizations such as WHO, UNICEF and UNFPA.
Dr. Aouélé said that there are many obstacles to the momentum towards reducing maternal, newborn and child mortality in Côte d’Ivoire, including the predominance of medical causes, which account for 80% of obstacles such as bleeding and dystocias. According to him, frequent breakdowns of blood products and essential drugs and the deterioration in the quality of services in maternity hospitals, mainly attributed to health personnel, are among the obstacles to reducing maternal and child mortality rates. The Chief Health Officer in Côte d’Ivoire reported that 52 per cent of referral facilities do not offer blood transfusion and caesarean section is not performed in 34 referral facilities. For him, this campaign is therefore an action of his ministry to demonstrate his willingness to promote local exchanges to bring stakeholders together and allow a better distribution of resources to effectively contribute to curbing maternal, newborn and child mortality in Côte d’Ivoire.
Finally, the Minister of Health and Public Hygiene handed over a roadmap to regional prefects for the successful conduct of the campaign throughout Côte d’Ivoire.