Keith Martin's Maternal Health Proposal

By Kevin Carmichael, The Globe and Mail - May 20, 2010

This space has probably become a little heavy on banks and bank taxes. (If the Canadians and the Germans would stop talking about it, we could move on!) So as an antidote, and an apology, I offer a decent proposal from Liberal member of Parliament Keith Martin in an attempt to refocus the debate over Prime Minister Stephen Harper's maternal health initiative, an excellent idea that unfortunately the federal government has allowed to get bogged down in abortion politics.

Not all critics are created equal. Dr. Martin is a voice from the opposition side of the House of Commons that is more reasonable than most, especially when it comes to thinking how the privileged can improve life for the poorest. He has visited Africa 26 times, mostly on his own time to treat sick people. Dr. Martin founded the Canadian Physicians Overseas Program and he represented Canada at gatherings of parliamentarians from Group of Eight countries in 2008 and 2009, at which he chaired the committee that wrote a report calling for increased investment in maternal and child health.

Still, Dr. Martin has chosen to align himself with a political party, so his recommendation is tinged with partisanship. I’ll leave that out, and let his ideas speak for themselves.

(Ok, since this blog sometimes gets play over at Globe Politics, here's one partisan shot: “Prime Minister Harper has said he wants to adopt non-controversial measures, but has not missed an opportunity to talk about preventing women in developing countries from having access to the same abortion rights as Canadian women do: a bit rich given that Mr. Harper will never have to personally make such a decision.”)

Here’s Dr. Martin’s proposal, from a statement he wrote on Tuesday, free of political bluster:

The World Food Programme (WFP) provides food for the world’s poorest and most marginalized people. This year, they will feed an estimated 90-million people in 73 countries. Those who live in these regions of acute and chronic food insecurity also suffer from some of the highest rates of mortality and morbidity from the world’s major killers: diarrhea, pneumonia, malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, and of course malnutrition. The reason for this is that a profound lack of access to basic medical care often goes hand in hand with areas that have poor food production. The WFP has feeding centres that deliver food in these remote regions, and have the logistical systems to support these centres.

So here is the solution: why doesn’t the G8 use the WFP’s feeding centres to deliver basic primary care? The WFP’s logistical systems already used to transport foodstuffs to these hard-to-reach places could also be used to deliver the medications, diagnostics, power generators, micronutrients, health care workers, well-drilling and sanitation equipment, and family planning needs to the clinics.

Each G8 nation could each take the leadership role in one of the inputs needed to provide primary care services. Canada could take the lead in micronutrients and access to water and sanitation; the US could train health care workers; the French could lead on the sometimes divisive issue of providing family planning and access to safe abortions where they are legal. Such a partnership announced at the Summit would provide focus and a concrete mechanism to actually get medical care on the ground where it is needed.

The funding of this endeavour, which would cost approximately $15-billion over the next five years, could be achieved if the G8 leaders announced at the Summit the creation of a new Global Fund for Maternal and Childhood Health Care. This could be modeled on a similar fund that exists to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis.

The combination of a scientifically based plan of action, defined responsibilities, a new Global Fund, and a mechanism to implement this plan through the WFP will enable us to dramatically reduce the horrific loss of 344 000 pregnant women and nine million children who die every year from preventable or treatable causes.