Wednesday, 24th September 2014
Health Ministry targets 50 per 100,000 births
Pregnancy is not a disease, but it can bring about complications at any time that requires medical attention or even hospitalization. Therefore, there must be roundthe-clock observation and care given to a pregnant mother by her family, Health Officials and healthcare givers at the clinic
The Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) of 134 per 100,000 births was not a reflection of the true healthcare delivery system of Sri Lanka despite being the best MMR in the region and therefore the Health Ministry should direct its attention towards bringing the MMRto50per100,000 births in the next five years, Director General, Health Services, Dr. Palitha Mahipala said yesterday.
Addressing the media at a workshop entitled ‘Safe Motherhood’ held at the Health Education Bureau, Dr. Mahipala said that Sri Lanka must attempt to bring down the MMR to the level of developed countries in the near future which stood at less than 30 per 100,000 births. “Pregnancy is not a disease, but it can bring about complications at any time that requires medical attention or even hospitalization. Therefore, there must be round-the-clock observation and care given to a pregnant mother by her family, Health Officials and healthcare givers at the clinic to ensure a healthy birth of the child sans complications to both mother and the child,” Dr. Mahipala stressed.
Dr. Mahipala recalled that many pregnant women had delivered their babies at home in the past but today almost 100% of mothers come to hospitals to conceive which had contributed greatly to the drop in the MMR and Infant Mortality Rates (IMR). The Health Ministry is committed to further improve the health of the mother and child by appointing at least two VOGs at each and every district and base hospital in the country which means that every child birth will take place under the observation of a specialist doctor, Dr. Mahipala said.
“But we are very concerned that mothers still die in hospital during child birth. This is a huge challenge before us and also a social problem. The MMR and IMR can be further reduced by improving infrastructure and awareness of information pertaining to pregnancy, child birth and post-natal and pre-natal health care delivery among the public,” he stressed.
Dr. Mahipala said that 1,500 mothers die every day from complications at child birth and maternal deaths were a health issue related to poverty. That was why the MMR and IMR was high in many countries in Africa as well. It was a trend that the MMR and the IMR come down when a country achieved economic progress. The best MMR and IMR were recorded in Scandinavian countries and the worst in Sierra Leone.
From : http://dailymirrorepaper.newspaperdirect.com/epaper/viewer.aspx
