Mother and Child Week: Growing maternal death rates in K-P, FATA raise eyebrows

PESHAWAR:

At least 700,000 children under five years of age will be immunised and 450,000 pregnant women vaccinated in the next week. This was stated during the launch ceremony of Mother and Child Week in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) here on Friday.

Minister for Population Welfare Saleem Khan, Minister for Excise and Taxation Liaqat Shabab, Senator Farhat Abbas, Unicef officers and others also spoke.

Speakers were concerned by the growing maternal mortality rate in K-P and Fata. They were of the opinion that a majority of these women could be saved by modern medicine.

The shortage of maternity homes, lack of awareness, illiteracy, malnutrition, unskilled midwives and lack of family planning, according to the speakers, are major causes of maternal deaths.

Women do not get medical checkups regularly during pregnancy and risk more complications at the time of delivery, they added.

They said that Pakistan ranks eighth globally in terms of deaths of children under age five.

They were of the opinion that due heed should be given to the education and health departments. Infant mortality, they said, can be reduced by creating awareness through education.

However, speakers also noted that the provincial government, Unicef and other donors are collaborating towards improving facilities in public sector hospitals.

More than 100,000 lady health workers are working in different parts of the province, and during Mother and Child Week, they said 32,000 safe delivery kits and 4,000 newborn kits will be provided to the concerned departments.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 23^rd, 2011.