Speech by Dr Takeshi Kasai, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific, at the Multistakeholder Consensus Meeting on the Situation Analysis for Maternal and Newborn Health

Dr Sir Puka Temu, Minister for Health and HIV/AIDS

Dr Paison Dakulala, Deputy Secretary of the National Department of Health & Chair of the Maternal and Child Health Task Force

Partners, colleagues, friends

Good morning. It’s a pleasure to be here with you on my first trip back to PNG since I took up the role of WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific just a few weeks ago.

I am really pleased to be able to join you for this meeting. This is a very high priority for me: I take the responsibility to protect women and children’s health very seriously.  

As you will hear this morning, Papua New Guinea has the highest rates of maternal and newborn mortality in WHO’s Western Pacific Region.

For every 1000 births in the country, as many as 9 mothers, and 24 newborn babies, die. That is 2000 Papua New Guinean women dying every year, simply through the act of giving life. That is 2000 families who lose their mother every year, 2000 stories of grief and heartache.

The PNG child and maternal health situation is the result of many challenging and complex factors. But Sir Dr Puka Temu has stood up to address this crisis. We are here today because of his leadership.

We will hear more later today about the Task Force’s situation analysis. Even though I have been coming to PNG for many years, I have to admit that when my team briefed me on their work, I was shocked.

Women in labour or about to go into labour, walking for hours to get to a health facility, only to find it closed …

Women dying because of lack of essential medicines to treat hemorrhage and other common conditions associated with pregnancy and childbirth, such as pre-eclampsia … Women dying at health facilities while waiting for staff to arrive …

These are women who can no longer speak for themselves, but who must rely on their families, and the Task Force, to tell their stories for them. It is up to all of us here today to make sure that these stories are not told in vain.

I know there have been efforts in the past to address these issues, without great success. One thing is clear: we cannot approach the issue in the same way we have in the past. If we do, we will not get a different result.

There are four key things that I believe must be different this time in order for us to really make progress.

First, we need to define the problem differently: we need to go deeper in our analysis, and have a more a comprehensive understanding of the structure of the issue. This will help us move away from the old project-based approach, to identify the intervention points for short, medium and long-term action.

Second, we must work together as one team to address this crisis. Once we have that structure, we will have a clearer process. Everyone needs to be accountable for their part, and their contributions should be visible to others. And we need to bring all these contributions together in a genuine partnership. 

Third, we need good, capable people to work on these issues – both in NDOH, and on partners’ side.

Finally, leadership and political commitment. Fortunately, we have this with Sir Dr Puka Temu. We could not have a more forceful or passionate advocate at the Cabinet table. With Sir Puka’s leadership, I believe we will have the political attention and focus we need. Now we have to help him to continue to raise this issue to the highest political levels.

If these things are in place, I think we can really make progress on pressing issues such as workforce shortages; supply of basic medicines and equipment; and fixing the bottlenecks in the system which stop needed resources getting to the frontline.

The WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros, has also pledged his strong personal support. We also need a strong and dedicated team with NDOH, as I discussed with Minister Puka Temu yesterday. I also want to pledge my full support.

In this day and age, no woman should die giving birth for want of the simple, preventative interventions that we know save lives.

Ladies and gentleman, PNG is no stranger to health crises. In the last 8 months, the country has been responding to a very challenging polio outbreak.

But as Sir Puka Temu told me yesterday, the response to the polio outbreak has shown us how to partner and how to mobilize in response to a crisis. It can be done.

I would like to conclude by thanking the members of the Task Force for the situation analysis being presented today. Your work paints a stark picture, but it also provides a good basis for developing a solid action plan.

Minister, colleagues: we have a lot of work to do.

It is too late for the 2000 women who died giving birth last year, and the year before that. We should never forget them.

With the commitment and leadership of Sir Puka, other top government leaders, development partners, and everyone in this room, we can start to make a difference for the women who will give birth this year, and next year, and the year after that.

Thank you very much.