Improving maternal health : MDG5 and Ethiopia's urban health extension program (UHEP)

Abstract

Ethiopia’s Urban Health Extension (UHEP) is an MDG-oriented national program that aims to create demand for basic health care services in urban settings. It aspires to do this through government salaried Health Extension Workers (HEWs) for the urban poor. Among its 16 health packages is the Maternal and Child Health Services Package. This study is an exploration of the maternal health aspect of this Package. Specifically, it attempts to look into the relevance of UHEP’s maternal health interventions and explores the relationship between the global health agenda and local maternal health policies and interventions. Data were collected mainly through observational research and in-depth interviews with program beneficiaries and their Health Extension Workers (HEWs). Findings indicate that while the Program and its maternal health objectives are generally relevant to the concerns of the urban poor such as access to basic and maternal health services, the main driver, nevertheless, has been the relevance to global MDGs. This compromised the process of beneficiary identification, and highlights the need to integrate supply side interventions with local demand in order to strengthen the response of the urban poor.