MADANG, Papua New Guinea, 8 July 2009—Policy-makers need to play a more dynamic role if barriers to improving maternal, child and adolescent health in Pacific island countries are to be dismantled. This was the conclusion reached today by the Pacific Ministers of Health, who are meeting in Madang from 7 to 9 July. The aim of the meeting is to develop strategic plans of action to improve health, including maternal, child and adolescent health, in island nations. The meeting is supported by the Western Pacific Regional Office of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC).
Several Pacific island countries are already on track to meet the United Nations Millennium Development Goals targets, which include reducing child mortality by two thirds and decreasing maternal deaths by three quarters by 2015. However, some countries need to accelerate action if they are to meet these goals. The MDGs also call for universal access to reproductive health services.
While Pacific island countries have been implementing maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health programmes for decades, the meeting concluded that further action is needed to reach vulnerable and isolated groups. For example, the availability of contraceptive measures remains low in many Pacific island countries because of poor access to family planning services. Studies have also associated early, frequent and unprotected sexual activity among adolescents with unwanted pregnancies; a high prevalence of sexually transmitted infections; and the risk of HIV. Health providers need to be sensitized to adolescent health issues in order to deliver better services to young people.
The meeting heard that obstacles to improvements in maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health include geographical isolation, limited access to education, inadequate food security, unhealthy living conditions, the low status of women, economic and cultural barriers, and poverty.
Many of these challenges lie outside the mandate of the health sector. Therefore, unless effective, coordinated measures are undertaken by all concerned, significant progress on maternal, child and adolescent health in the region will remain unachievable.
"All agencies and partners must develop multisectoral approaches and act in unison under joint team approaches and frameworks at regional and national levels," said Dr Shin Young-soo, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific.