UNGA81: Expert warns medical innovations fail without frontline capacity

Mr Mazen Mokhtar, Chief Executive Officer, Baitulmaal, a humanitarian organisation, has called for stronger frontline health systems to ensure that medical innovations translate into better outcomes for mothers and newborns in fragile settings.

Mokhtar made the call on Friday, during a panel discussion, “From Pipeline to Pregnancy: Unlocking the Final Step”.

It was organised by the “Every Pregnancy Coalition” on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA81).

The discussion, monitored by the newsmen, focused on the gap between medical innovations and their effective use in frontline health facilities, particularly in conflict-affected and rural communities.

He said the availability of a medical product did not necessarily mean that it would benefit patients if health workers lacked the training and systems required to use it.

He cited an experience from Wajir, Kenya, where postpartum haemorrhage detection drapes had been procured and delivered to a health facility but remained unused because health workers had not been trained to interpret the device.

He said the example demonstrated the need to look beyond procurement and distribution when assessing the effectiveness of maternal and newborn health interventions.

According to him, the final stage of healthcare delivery requires communication, collaboration, training and adaptation to local realities.

He said health systems in fragile and remote communities often faced multiple barriers, including inadequate infrastructure, limited skilled personnel, unreliable electricity and difficult terrain.

He said addressing such challenges required interventions designed around the realities of the communities they were intended to serve.

The panel brought together government officials, development partners, health experts and representatives of the private sector to examine how innovations could be moved from development and procurement into effective use at the point of care.

Mokhtar also participated in a high-level roundtable titled “The Science Exists. Why Is Delivery Still Failing: Closing the Gap for Mothers, Children, and Adolescents”.

He used the session to highlight approaches aimed at adapting health interventions to local conditions in Kenya, Somalia and Gaza.

In Wajir, Kenya, he said Baitulmaal was deploying electricity-free Venturi-system Bubble Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) devices alongside practical respiratory training for health workers.

He said health workers had travelled for about 12 hours over unpaved roads to receive hands-on training aimed at strengthening respiratory care for mothers and newborns in rural communities.

In Mogadishu, Somalia, Mokhtar said Baitulmaal’s 30-bed Hope Hospital was being integrated into the local health system through a referral and cost-recovery partnership with Jazeera University Hospital.

“The aim is to provide subsidised care, including for internally displaced mothers,” he said.

He said that in Khan Younis, Gaza, the organisation was installing solar power systems to support neonatal intensive care equipment and conducting Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (EmONC) training for health workers.

He said the interventions were intended to strengthen local capacity in settings affected by conflict and disruptions to electricity supply.

He said improving maternal and newborn survival required health stakeholders to ensure that innovations were accompanied by the infrastructure, training and systems needed for their effective use.

“Every life saved is hope reborn,” he said.

The discussions formed part of broader efforts by global health organisations and partners at UNGA81 to address preventable maternal and newborn deaths, particularly in fragile and underserved communities.

Newsmen report that Hon. Dr Adanna Steinacker, Senior Special Assistant to the Nigerian President on Women’s Health, was among the panellists.

Other panellists were Dr Rasa Izadnegahdar, Director of Maternal, Newborn, Child Nutrition and Health at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Matthew Rielly, Ventures Business Leader at Philips; and Dr Zaher Sahloul, CEO and Co-Founder of MedGlobal.