SID-SAN strategy on maternal mortality in South Asia.

Representatives from women's NGOs, medical associations, media, donor and research communities met for a day long planning meeting to produce an advocacy resource book for South Asia on Maternal health and well-being, a set of media advocacy tools aimed at informing different constituencies of the MDG process and to plan a strategic meeting to be held in Lahore 3-5 February.

The discussion first focused on the MDGs and the political opportunity they present for the region to put in place the policies, resources and actions needed to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity and child mortality. The discussion took a pragmatic approach (while acknowledging the lack of knowledge about the MDG process and the cynicism around it by many NGOs) looking at the MDG process as way to push a maternal health agenda taking on board a more radical critique of medical and development interventions that other processes (such as women's reproductive health and rights movements, health movements, the positions reached at the ICPD and Beijing offer). Underlying economic and social factors need to be taken into account working from the ground analysis and experience, using some of the models that work and providing a dialogue that can push for new approaches which these models illustrate can be done.

The SID-SAN project will look at how Millennium Development Goals can be met working with health professionals and women's health and rights NGOs, in other words what is needed on the ground putting policy into practice. The discussion drew up several key areas of concern nationally and regionally: the need to 'unpack' the concept of mmm, the need to explain the MDGs 'in context', the need to find more appropriate and accurate ways to measure the maternal mortality ratio, redefining maternal mortality to include morbidity and non medical indicators and moving away from highly medicalized and expensive obstetretic care as the only approach, training of TBA and doctors to ensure safe delivery taking a life cycle health systems training approach, the need to redefine health NGO and government collaboration (in the light of public/private partnerships), learning from success stories (uncovering the strategies to those successes at that historical moment), how to form strategic partnerships based on the reality on the ground within the region and across regions (linking to other processes such as Beijing).

Based on the discussion it was decided that:

* The meeting would be based on a series of key papers and a resource book of important articles to be distributed at the meeting (and completed immediately following the meeting to include recommendations for strategies in the region) (see below)

* A detailed programme and list of speakers was drawn up (see below)

* The meeting would be hosted by Shirkat Gah in Lahore from 3-5 February at a hotel. They will be one opening session followed by smaller panel sessions.

* UN agencies (particularly UNFPA and WHO both of whom are focusing on the topic in 2005), government, medical associations and media would be invited to attend along with 16 international and regional guests. Total number of participants 35.

* The resource book and report of guidelines and recommendations from the meeting would be taken back to national constituencies, form the basis of a media campaign, and be linked to global processes around the MDGs, Cairo +10 and Beijing +10 process.

IPS will take the lead with media but some other suggestions were to call on local media and to provide a competition for young media people to attend. To ask older media people to mentor a younger person's interest in the media.

Draft Programme

A core group of Khawar Mumtaz, Wendy Harcourt, Mahesh Maskey and Indu Capoor will work throughout the conference to ensure a smooth outcome of each session. They will work closely with key notes and chairs.

Opening to the Conference
Introduction/Moderator Khawar Mumtaz

Session 1 Conference Key note MDGs in Context
Moderator Wendy Harcourt
Speaker: Lynn Freedman
Responses: Yasim Ali Haque, Kalyani Menon Sem

Session 2 Unwrapping maternal mortality and morbidity in South Asia
Moderator Poonam Muttreja
Key note Imrana Qadeer
Panel Responses Bina Pradhan, Aruna Upreti, Zeha Sathar

Session 3 Reorienting the Health System for Maternal Health: The Continuum of Care (from grassroots to the tertiary)
Moderator: to be defined
Keynotes presenter from Aga Khan University/ Dulitha Fernando (Sri Lanka)
Panel Responses/examples and case studies: Jamkkher Dr Raj Arola
S. Jaffrey NCMH, BWHC (c/- Sandra Kahn), Sharad Outa, Zafrullah Chowdury

Session 4 Measuring and Monitoring
Moderator and Key paper Mahesh Maskey
Panel Responses Sharad Iyengar, Amar Jessani, Population Council, Farida Akhtar

Session 5 Redefining Public Private Partnership
Moderator and key paper Indu Capoor
Panel Responses Shireen Haq Rehana Mustaque

Session 6 Strategies and recommendations for the future
Moderator Kausar Khan
Strategies for South Asia Rashida Abdullah
Media Zofeen Ebrahim
SIDSAN Khawar Mumtaz

Summary of outcome and thanks