President William Ruto has delivered a powerful call to action on maternal mortality, declaring that women dying during childbirth is a failure that Africa can no longer tolerate.
“In this day and age, it is unacceptable that women continue to lose their lives while giving birth,”President Ruto stated during the High-Level Heads of State in in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Side Event: From Commitment to Impact – Accelerating Maternal Mortality Reduction in Africa, held on the sidelines of the 39th Ordinary African Union Summit on Saturday.
The Kenyan leader announced that his government has already enrolled 50,000 vulnerable adolescent mothers under the new Social Health Authority, with an additional 38,000 currently being onboarded into the programme.
President Ruto described maternal and neonatal deaths as an unacceptable failure of health systems and governance.
Speaking alongside other African heads of stateincluding Presidents Julius Maada of Sierra Leone, Duma Boko of Botswana, Faustin-Archange Touadéra of the Central African Republic, and Ethiopia’s Taye Atske Selassie, President Ruto outlined Kenya’s comprehensive health reforms aimed at saving mothers’ lives.
“Financing, however, must be matched by clinical readiness,” Ruto emphasized, noting that insurance coverage alone is insufficient without strong health facilities and skilled personnel.
The President revealed that Kenya is implementing the Maternal and Newborn Health Rapid Results Initiative, concentrating resources in 26 high-burden counties with the highest maternal and neonatal mortality rates.
The government has deployed 2,880 Community Health Promoters and 192 Community Health Assistants to extend coverage at the grassroots level.
President Ruto also highlighted Kenya’s shift toward precise health intelligence, moving from broad estimates to exact measurements through the Reproductive Age Mortality Survey approach to determine who is dying, where, and why.
In 2023, more than 70% of global maternal deaths occurred in Africa, with an estimated 182,000 women losing their lives to pregnancy-related complications.
The summit comes as Africa continues to bear a disproportionate burden of global maternal and child mortality, with the continent recording an estimated maternal mortality ratio of 442 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2023.
President Maada of Sierra Leone echoed Ruto’s concerns, stating that Africa must now turn commitments into tangible results deliberately and consistently.
The event forms part of broader AU efforts to address maternal health challenges across the continent, including the official launch of the CARMMA Plus Website, a continental digital hub designed to enhance visibility, coordination, and accountability in efforts to end preventable maternal, newborn, and child deaths in Africa.
