MDGs: Where do we stand?

Millennium Development Goals, according to a recent progress report.
Although the report launched last week in Harare indicated significant progress towards combating HIV and Aids, Malaria, and other diseases (Goal Six), inadequate human and financial constraints were hampering progress in reducing child mortality (Goal Four) and improving maternal health (Goal Five).
Launched by Labour and Social Welfare Minister Paurina Mpariwa, the report is titled “Keeping the Promise: United to achieve the MDGs”.
In line with meeting Goal Four, Zimbabwe’s target is to reduce the number of children who die below the age of five years by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015.
The report noted regression, with the under five-mortality rate increasing from 77 per 1 000 live births in 1994 to 86 per 1 000 in 2009.
HIV and Aids, socio-cultural issues, inadequate human resources, lack of proper sanitary facilities and limited finances were noted as the major causes of this trend.
“Although the Government does have an exi-sting user fee policy which should provide free of charge health services for pregnant women and lactating mothers, children under five years and the elderly (more than 60 years) it has proved extremely difficult to implement,” reads the report.
It says while the Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) Declaration states that health spending should be between US$34 and US$40 per capita, Zimbabwe’s allocation stood at US$9.
This means about a quarter of the recommended money is set aside by the State for each individual yearly.
The country’s maternal health (Goal Five) status continues to decline.
Zimbabwe is targeting to improve maternal health by 75 percent from 1990 to 2015.
This also includes universal access to reproductive health services.
Zimbabwe should reduce maternal mortality from 283 per 100 000 live births (1994) to 174 per 100 000 by 2015.
According to 2009 statistics, the ratio was 725 per 100 000. Only 69 percent of births are attended to by skilled health personnel while the unmet need for family planning remains unchanged at 13 percent.
Leading constrains have been identified as HIV, complications arising from abortions, deteriorating capacity and responsiveness of the healthcare system and limited budgetary allocations.
Combating HIV and Aids, malaria and other diseases is said to be on course in line with set targets.
Zimbabwe’s target is to halt and reverse the spread of HIV and currently, the prevalence rate continues to decline.
It fell from 23,7 percent in 2007 to the current 14,3 percent in the 15-49 year age group.
Although the same target states that by 2010, the country should provide universal access to treatment for HIV and Aids for all those who need it, by the end of 2009 only 53 percent were on ART.
On malaria, significant progress has also been noted, resulting in the reduction of incidence to 59 per 1 000 people against a target of 68 per 1 000.
Zimbabwe is now actually working towards malaria elimination.
In contrast, tuberculosis incidence has significantly increased from 97 per 100 000 in 2000, to 782 per 100 000 in 2007.
Although 78 percent of all TB cases were successfully treated in 2007, case detection rates remain below 40 percent. MDGs are eight specific development areas that were agreed in 2000 by the 189 United Nations members.