Maternal morbidity and mortality remain major global concerns in developing and underdeveloped countries. Various international interventions have been made over the last 50 years but with essentially the same targets and indicators. This review traced the development of programs on maternal and child health based on major global policies, from the 1978 Declaration on Primary Health Care to the Millennium and Sustainable Development Goals, and related the approach they engendered to the Philippine experience. Health outcomes have not significantly improved despite adherence to recommended goals and programs. New strategies purportedly propose novel and innovative methods, but are burdened by essentially the same old presumptions: government resources are limited, and interventions need to be supported by whatever funds are available. Preference for low-cost and measurable programs providing minimal essential care persists with the current socio-economic conditions characterized by neoliberal and conservative policies. There is a need to return to the fundamentals of the Comprehensive Primary Health Care, linking the health of vulnerable groups, like women and children, to social and economic development. Inter-agency and multi-sectoral approach, community participation and empowerment, real political commitment and major rethinking are needed in national and international discourses on health not just to attain better maternal and child health but to achieve health for all.
Maternal Health ; Child Health ; Primary Health Care