Advocacy tool stimulates policy and budget changes: Burkina Faso's experience

Sustained advocacy with government health officials and parliamentarians in Burkina Faso resulted in the government allocating eleven percent of the health budget for safe motherhood and subsidizing 80% of the cost of caesarean sections resulting from emergency obstetric care. These significant policy changes were contributed to by using REDUCE-ALIVE — an advocacy process to stimulate policy dialogue and strategic planning on maternal and newborn health. Even though over 500,000 women die annually from complications of pregnancy/childbirth, women's health does not figure prominently in health budgets. The goal of REDUCE-ALIVE is to mobilize decision makers to take appropriate action to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity and increase newborn survival. In Burkina Faso, REDUCE-ALIVE provided a framework for discussion with a range of maternal health stakeholders on the most appropriate interventions to build consensus and develop policy change goals. The local REDUCE-ALIVE team prepared an advocacy plan and materials to highlight the need for increased funding and improved policies for maternal health. The team then presented statistics to lawmakers on the number of women and children who die every day and the loss of productivity in monetary amounts, which strongly impressed the audience and increased the problem's visibility. In partnership with WHO, USAID's AWARE-RH project has supported REDUCE applications in West Africa. This presentation will highlight the groundbreaking tool that has been used in 11 African countries to support policy change to improve maternal health and to impact the lives of countless women who have a right to healthy and safe pregnancies.