PMNCH’s Vice Chair calls on IPU to ensure adequate funding for healthcare services  

ARUSHA: THE Vice Chair of the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH), Dr Flavia Bustreo, has called on parliamentarians of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) to take urgent action to ensure adequate funding for health services for women, children and young people, despite challenges posed by rising debt burdens and declining development assistance.

Speaking on Thursday, October 8, 2026, during a discussion on maternal and child health in Arusha, Dr Bustreo said a study conducted across 67 countries found that 80 percent of them face significant funding gaps in implementing health programmes targeting women, children and adolescents.

She said the funding challenge affects not only governments but also civil society organisations that provide essential services to communities, including access to reproductive health commodities, essential medicines and vaccines.

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Dr Bustreo added that pressure on government budgets caused by debt burdens, coupled with declining development assistance for the health sector, requires parliamentarians to use their positions to ensure that these services are prioritised in national plans and budgets.

She also called on the international community to continue working with countries to ensure adequate availability of health resources and services, while emphasising the need for countries to increase their own efforts to finance and strengthen their health systems.