The Ministry of Health and Social Protection has announced the launch of a national campaign to raise awareness about the importance of follow-up visits during pregnancy, running from April 7 to May 8, under the slogan “Let’s prioritize and continue pregnancy follow-up visits… preserving the health of mothers and children.”
In a statement, the ministry emphasized that the launch of this campaign underscores Morocco’s utmost commitment to enhancing maternal and newborn health, as part of the implementation of a communication strategy for behavioral and social change for the period 2023-2027. This strategy has been developed by the National Human Development Initiative in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Social Protection.
The ministry noted that Morocco, like many countries worldwide, celebrates World Health Day on April 7 each year, this year’s theme chosen by the World Health Organization focuses on “Maternal and Newborn Health,” with the slogan “A Healthy Start for a Promising Future.”
The same source added that this campaign aims to strengthen gains and improve performance in prenatal medical follow-up, which has been scientifically proven to effectively reduce morbidity and mortality rates among mothers and newborns. It aims to broaden the scope of efforts to include other components of the first thousand days of a child’s life, which represents a critical opportunity for achieving healthy growth and optimal development of future generations.
The campaign serves as an opportunity to evaluate realized achievements and to motivate all actors at the local, regional, and national levels to strengthen their commitment to eliminating preventable maternal and newborn deaths while prioritizing women’s health and well-being in the long term.
The statement clarified that under the aforementioned strategy, and with support from the World Bank, an online training platform (Massive Open Online Courses – MOOC) has been developed to provide access to specialized training courses on guidance techniques and the significance of the first thousand days of a child’s life, which extends from the start of pregnancy until the child reaches the age of two. This initiative aims to promote and entrench optimal behaviors and practices that support the health and nutrition of mothers and children during this period.
In this context, the first training course will be launched in April for health professionals concerned with maternal and child health and nutrition, in addition to community mediators working in this field.
The statement stressed that Morocco, in alignment with its commitments to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 and in accordance with the country’s new development model and national guidelines aimed at ending preventable maternal and newborn deaths, has made significant efforts to improve maternal and newborn health under the supervision of the Ministry of Health and Social Protection, with continuous support from the National Human Development Initiative, and with effective contributions from relevant governmental sectors, non-governmental partners, the World Health Organization, and United Nations agencies.
According to the statement, the celebration of World Health Day is also an opportunity to enhance the role of all actors in maintaining the achieved performance levels nationally, reflected in the positive results of a 35% reduction in the maternal mortality rate during the period from 2010 to 2016 (according to the results of the 2018 National Survey on Population and Family Health) and a 38% decrease in the neonatal mortality rate during the same period, indicating the effectiveness of the adopted health interventions and policies.
In this regard, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection and the National Human Development Initiative are working together to execute this campaign, which includes airing television and radio spots in both Arabic and Amazigh, in addition to broadcasting digital capsules and publications on the official websites and social media pages of the ministry and the National Human Development Initiative.
Concurrently, to ensure widespread community mobilization, awareness and sensitization sessions will be organized at health institutions and maternity homes, and awareness messages will be included in Friday sermons to promote behaviors and practices that support the health and nutrition of mothers and children optimally.
