In the quest to reduce deaths and illnesses
of women, children and families through a comprehensive approach commencing
before pregnancy, a Safe Motherhood Strategy was introduced. This Strategy,
which was implemented during the course of last year, came as part of the
Ministry’s efforts to curb the maternal and neonatal mortality rate, which is
in fact high on the agenda of the Ministry of Public Health.
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| BBC news |
This disclosure was recently made when the
Public Health Ministry held its end of year press conference.
Moreover, intensified efforts are underway
this year. Former Minister of Public Health, Dr. George Norton, had revealed
that while approval of an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) loan for the
improvement of maternal and neonatal health was granted last year, this year
measures will be fast-tracked in the area of Maternal and Child Health.
In 2015, there were 17 recorded maternal
deaths, while in 2016 there were 12 recorded maternal deaths. Among the factors
that could have aided this reduction, Minister Norton said, is the fact that
there are more trained doctors in the Public Health system in the field of
Obstetrics. “This has resulted in earlier diagnosis of complications,” asserted
Dr. Norton.
This is due to the fact, the Minister said,
that to date, some 75 percent of all Cuban-trained medical practitioners have
been trained in ALARMS (Emergency Obstetrics Training). Forty more health care
workers were trained in ALARMS in 2016.
The reduction in the number of maternal
deaths can also be attributed to increased education and women being seen
earlier in their pregnancy, Dr. Norton quipped.
Meanwhile, helping to reduce the number of
neonatal deaths has been credited to deliberate collaboration between the
public health sector and the Guyana Help the Kids (GHTK) Charity. This
collaboration saw the commissioning of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)
at the Bartica Regional Hospital in May of last year. Read more here
News Credit : Kaieteurnews
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