Sunday 3 October 2010

ZAMBIA ON COURSE TOWARDS ATTAINING MDG 5

Ventures Strategies Innovations (VSI) a United States -based nonprofit organisation has said Zambia is on course towards attaining the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) Number five on Child and Maternal Mortality rate by 2015.
VSI Country Programmes Manager Dollina Odera said the Zambian Government through the Ministry of Health has put in place a lot of interventions aimed at reducing maternal mortality rate of 91 percent per 100,000 live births due to excessive bleeding.
ZANIS reports that Ms Odera said this was why her organsation in conjunction with the Ministry of Health embarked on strategies and interventions aimed at reducing excessive bleeding after Child births through the introduction of Misoprostol tablets to pregnant women especially those in rural areas who may not have access to health facilities within vicinity to deliver.
She said VSI  embarked on a 14- month pilot project which was conducted in  five districts and came  to an end on February  this year adding that the  drug was  highly accepted by the women in these health centres .
Ms Odera noted that in targeted areas where the drug was available, a higher percentage of protected births from the Prospartum hemorrhage PPH have been recorded and women have accepted the drug.
She said this during the Misoprostol For PPH Prevention pilot District dissemination meeting in Kapiri Mposhi, Central Province yesterday.
She described interventions implemented in Kalomo, Kapiri Mposhi , Masaiti, Mungwi  and Petauke as a success adding that no maternal deaths occurred during the use  of Misoprostol Drug in the five districts where  the pilot project  was conducted.
Ms Odera   however said that  although  the  pilot  project for this essential Drug  has come to an end  her organization  will continue  to  distribute  the drug  to the district were the pilot project  was being done .
She added that 94 percent of women have accepted to use Misoprostol among the communities were the intervention conducted.
Ms Odera noted that VSI was committed to ensuring that women’s health in developing countries was enhanced by creating access to effective and affordable technologies on a large scale.
And Health Promotion Officer at the Ministry of Health Beatrice Mwape said Government had plans to extend the Misoprotol for PPH prevention pilot project to other parts of the country.
Mrs Mwape thanked its cooperating partners VSI for supporting the pilot project in Zambia which had benefited a lot of women from excessive bleeding after child birth.
She noted that the Ministry of Health would continue working together with VSI to ensure that the lives of mothers were improved country wide.
ZANIS

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