BURKINA FASO: Cost Major Obstacle to Reducing Maternal Mortality
By Brahima Ouédraogo
OUAGADOUGOU, Nov 9 (IPS) Elizabeth Kaboré says she has paid for each
of her visits to the clinic, despite a government promise that prenatal
check-ups in health centres would be free.
"Far from being free, at each consultation, I've had to pay 600
CFA francs (around $1.20) to see the midwives," says Kaboré,
several months pregnant. "For an injection, I pay 100 FCFA and the
mid-wife explained to me that this money was for the guards at the
facility."
Human rights organisation Amnesty International points to financial
obstacles as one of the leading obstacles preventing the reduction of high
rates of maternal mortality in Burkina Faso.
"In our society, it's men who decide; women never have the
power. Women are deprived of a number of their rights, and we are
demanding that they be respected," said Gaétan Moutou, a
researcher for Amnesty International.
According to figures from the Ministry of Health, 307 women die for every
100,000 live births, around 2,000 deaths each year.
According to Moutou, financial obstacles are the principal hurdle to
women's access to care. He has seen firsthand the effect of subsidies
for maternal care in various regions of the country, leadingto many more
women presenting themselves at health centres for check-ups.
In 2006, the government adopted a subsidy, envisioning covering 80 percent
of the cost of giving birth – and making it completely free for the
poorest women, according to the ministry.
The government does what it can within its means, says Dr Souleymane
Sanou, the director-general of health in Burkina. "If donor partners
can help us, that would be welcome."
But according to Amnesty, the existence of the policy is not well known,
and people are often exploited by unscrupulous health workers. Amnesty
also feels that the lack of clear criteria to determine who the
beneficiaries should be, and the share of the cost (20 percent must be
paid by women seeking care) remains an important obstacle.
The United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA, which finances reproductive
health issues, recognises that there is a problem, but believes solutions.
"It's true that financial obstacles exist, and putting effective
measures in place is difficult," says Olga Sankara, programme manager
at the UNFPA office in Ouagadougou.
The UNFPA has supported a communication campaign by the Ministry of Health
to better inform people so that they are not exploited, Sankara told IPS.
Amnesty International has also called on the Burkinabé government to
extend and improve access of women to family planning.
The health ministry confirms that the prevalence rate for contraceptives
is growing, but remains low. Just over 14 percent of women in Burkina Faso
have access.
According the the national programme for health development, the objective
is to raise the rate of contraceptive use from six percent in 1998 to 19
percent in 2015.
