The African Union Commission Department of Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development (HHS) through the Health Systems, Diseases and Nutrition (HSDN) Division, convened a 3-day meeting, in Addis Ababa, the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia to deliberate on critical ‎nutrition issues impacting mothers ‎across the continent.‎ Over 120 representatives from 13 ‎African nations ‎committed to new actions that scale up maternal nutrition interventions ‎across national health systems. ‎

Pregnancy is a critical period of increased nutrition requirements, yet many women struggle ‎to meet ‎these needs through their diets, resulting in vitamin and mineral deficiencies that ‎can have serious ‎health and survival consequences for both mother and baby. In Africa, an ‎estimated 80% of women of ‎reproductive age suffer from one or more vitamin and mineral ‎deficiencies, and 13% of newborns are ‎born with low birth weight. MMS, commonly known ‎as prenatal vitamins, provide a cost-effective ‎solution to increase the intake of essential ‎vitamins and minerals during pregnancy and improve ‎maternal and newborn health.  ‎

The convening held from 12 -14 July, united the Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies Consortium (HMHB) and ‎diverse ‎stakeholders, including representatives from the African Union Commission, ‎national governments, and ‎others on new actions and recommendations for maternal ‎nutrition policies in Africa. They also ‎identified new approaches to address bottlenecks ‎hindering the scale-up of MMS, including local and ‎regional supply constraints of MMS. ‎Country leaders shared knowledge and experiences to elevate best ‎practices to strengthen ‎national health systems to support maternal health by integrating MMS in ‎antenatal care ‎services.‎

Highlighting the fundamental role of maternal nutrition in the health and prosperity of communities, Dr. Lia ‎Tadesse, Minister of Health, Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia urged stakeholders to work together to support all mothers by increasing access to proven ‎solutions, such as prenatal supplements during pregnancy, stating “Ethiopia is implementing a number ‎of national programs that improve maternal nutrition including micronutrient deficiency.” ‎

Speaking on behalf of the African Union Commission, Ms. Inas Mubarak, Head of Health Systems, Diseases and Nutrition stated, “We want to seize this opportunity to ‎establish meaningful collaborations and set the pace for concrete action to accelerate the women's ‎nutrition agenda, implementing an MMS strategy and nutrition financing.‎"

With renewed momentum among mothers, session participants set a new path forward for ‎collective action ‎for healthier pregnancies across the continent. The official meeting report ‎by HMHB is forthcoming.

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For further information, please contact:

Ms. Inas Mubarak I Head of Health Systems, Diseases and Nutrition Division | Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development | African Union Commission Tel: +251 901 091 175 | E-mail: AbbasI@africa-union.org | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia|

Ms. Whitney Mwangi I Health Communication and Advocacy Specialist | Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development | African Union Commission Tel: +251 901 097 067 | E-mail: WhitneyM@africa-union.org | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Information and Communication Directorate, African Union Commission I E-mail: DIC@africa-union.org
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