President of Malta Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca participated in a discussion organised in collaboration with MSD for Mothers entitled ‘Motherhood has no Borders’ during the WPL Global Summit 2017.
President Coleiro Preca expressed her dismay at the fact that in the EU, “1 in 10 potential mothers do not have access to maternal health during their first weeks of pregnancy.” The President said that this lack of accessibility to maternal health care is extremely worrying given its negative effects on potential mothers.
The President thanked MSD for Mothers for taking on board the idea of mapping out the services that are being offered across European countries “so that we can know exactly where the problem lies.” She further stated that while indicators are very important, as they give us a picture of the situation, it is necessary to single out where grey areas are “so that we can lobby for action to be taken.”
President Coleiro Preca also referenced the outcomes of the High-level Meeting on Maternal Health and Refugee Women organised earlier this year in Malta in collaboration with Women Political Leaders Global Forum and MSD for Mothers. The President expressed her satisfaction that these outcomes—which were presented to the EU Commissioner for Health—were going to be placed on the EU agenda by the same commissioner.
In conclusion, the President said that making motherhood safer for all women, families, communities must be a top priority on the agenda of the international community, whilst adding that maternal health is not simply a women’s issue, but a fundamental human right.