2009: Govt to avail ambulances to rural hospitals

Health Minister Dr. Richard Sezibera said expectant mothers need to be taken care of immediately to save the newborns and their mothers.

“Access to ambulances will allow mothers to get to hospital as soon as possible – reducing any would-be complications that sometimes result into maternal deaths – sometimes along with the child”, he told a three-day workshop looking how these deaths can be lowered.

Available figures suggest that present maternal mortality rate is 750 out of 100000. Most pregnant mothers die as a result of bleeding, malaria related cases because of not sleeping under treated mosquito nets, and infections. Some deaths result from high or low sugar level in blood and hypertension.

This mortality rate is still high despite the fact that it is second to South Africa within sub Saharan Africa, Sezibera said. Government wants this situation dropping to 600 out 100000 by 2015.

According to Salil Shetty, from the United Nations Millennium campaign, child mortality can be attributed to pneumonia which accounts for 23.2 %. Shortage of professional health workers to help affected people is also to blame, he noted.

The UN says many more countries are not investing in the health care system which is as low as 4.7% – largely inadequate as per WHO requirement.

According to Professor Sergio Stone, in order to achieve the millennium goals countries have to register an improvement of at least 5 % annually but some have just about 0.1% and 2 %. More need to be done in order to meet the millennium challenges, he emphasized.

As a way of reducing mortality rate within all health sectors, Professor Stan emphasized on the need of accountability, which according to Stan is to know the reason as why the patient has died, and the most appropriate measures that might have prevented the death.

Minister Sezibera pointed out that the accountability for the dead has been initiated right on the grass root level through the ministry of local government.