The World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH), an initiative of Qatar Foundation, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, will host a panel session at the summit in Doha to tackle critical issues regarding maternal and newborn care.

The second WISH summit will take place on February 17 and 18 in Doha, Qatar.

WISH has announced a joint effort with the Gates Foundation to release a report developed with Harvard University and Save the Children highlighting the importance of integrated maternal and newborn healthcare.

The panel discussion will put forward the case for service integration and provide a platform for thought-provoking debate on both the critical issues and the opportunities that can be mobilised to ensure efforts to reduce maternal and newborn mortality remain a top priority. The briefing will also provide five recommendations for healthcare stakeholders who are committed to improving the health and wellbeing of mothers and newborns.

This unique WISH panel is timed to coincide with the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that will replace the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2015 ensuring that this vital issue of maternal and child health remain at the forefront of global and national health agendas.

“While we’ve seen advancements in maternal and newborn health these past fifteen years, comparatively maternal and newborn survival have not progressed as quickly as other health goals,” said Mariam Claeson, director of the Maternal, Newborn and Child Health programme at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

“Newborn mortality now makes up the majority of all under-five deaths, despite the existence of proven, cost-effective interventions that could save the lives of hundreds of thousands more women and newborns each year.

“At the Gates Foundation, we believe global health equity is achievable and we want to make childbirth safe for all women and newborns. Innovation is the key to both the reach and uptake of this vision, which is why we’re so pleased to be taking part in WISH’s 2015 Summit, sharing our ambitions with healthcare experts whose duty it is to protect, educate and care for the world’s newborns and their mothers,” she added.

Professor the Lord Darzi of Denham, executive chair of WISH, said: “This special WISH policy briefing aims to build the case for integrating policies and services in ways that improve the quality and accessibility of care for mothers and newborns. The subject of newborn and maternal health cannot be of greater importance to families, society and the world. This unique and timely panel will offer tangible, proven and applicable solutions for lowering costs and saving lives.”

In 2013, more than 280,000 women and girls died unnecessarily due to complications of pregnancy and childbirth while 2.9 million newborns died due to lack of available care. As the health of mothers and their children are inextricably linked - biologically, socially, and through health systems - integrated care systems that use innovative approaches are desperately needed across the full range of reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child healthcare. – TradeArabia News Service