AU event on maternal tech

African Union and United Nations Population Fund officials used a 13 April meeting at United Nations headquarters to press for tech and financing aimed at cutting preventable maternal deaths in Africa. (unfpa.org) The side event, called “The Infrastructure of Survival,” was held during the fifty-ninth session of the Commission on Population and Development in New York from 1:15 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Eastern time in Conference Room 4. It was organized by the United Nations Population Fund, the African Union Commission and the African Union Development Agency-New Partnership for Africa’s Development. (un.org) United Nations Population Fund said the meeting was backed by the governments of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, The Gambia, Ghana, South Africa and Tanzania, and focused on “catalytic capital,” or money used to attract larger pools of public and private funding. The agenda also highlighted digital tools, regional procurement and local manufacturing of maternal health supplies. (esaro.unfpa.org) (unfpa.org) The push comes as maternal deaths remain heavily concentrated in Africa. The World Health Organization said the African region’s maternal mortality ratio fell from 727 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2000 to 442 in 2023, but the region still accounted for 70% of global maternal deaths. (afro.who.int) Globally, more than 700 women died each day in 2023 from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth, according to the World Health Organization’s latest estimates. United Nations agencies said progress has slowed since 2016 and warned in April 2025 that aid cuts were putting maternal health services at risk. (who.int) (news.un.org) The African Union and its partners framed the problem as a supply-and-systems failure as much as a clinical one. United Nations Population Fund said deaths from postpartum hemorrhage and sepsis often persist because life-saving commodities do not reach clinics and families still pay large shares of costs out of pocket. (esaro.unfpa.org) That helps explain the emphasis on pooled procurement, which means multiple countries buying together to negotiate price and supply, much like a bulk order. United Nations Population Fund said the event would showcase African-led efforts to use regional pooled procurement to improve access to essential maternal health commodities. (unfpa.org) The procurement push is already part of a wider African Union health strategy. Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention says its African Pooled Procurement Mechanism was endorsed by African Union leaders in February 2024 to improve access to essential medical supplies across member states. (africacdc.org) Regulation is the other piece of the puzzle. African Union legal documents say the African Medicines Agency was designed to harmonize medicine rules across countries so safe products can be approved and distributed more efficiently. (au.int) The maternal health focus is not new for the bloc. The African Union launched the Campaign for the Accelerated Reduction of Maternal Mortality in Africa in May 2009 under the slogan “Africa Cares: No Woman Should Die while Giving Life.” (au.int) This week’s message was that the next phase will rely less on short-term aid and more on African-led financing, manufacturing and delivery systems. In its event summary, United Nations Population Fund said current trends would leave Africa at about 350 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births by 2030, far above the Sustainable Development Goal target of fewer than 70. (esaro.unfpa.org) (who.int)