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Child, maternal mortality rates shoot up: Parirenyatwa
Peter Matambanadzo, The Herald (Zimbabwe)
November 27, 2006

http://www.herald.co.zw/inside.aspx?sectid=11834&cat=1&livedate=11/27/2006

CHILD and maternal mortality rates in Zimbabwe have shot up considerably owing to prohibitive service fees charged by some hospitals, shortage of equipment and skilled personnel, the Minister of Health and Child Welfare, Dr David Parirenyatwa, has said.

Speaking at a one-day workshop held in Kadoma by the United Nations Population Fund for parliamentarians on maternal and neo-natal health last week, Dr Parirenyatwa said the high death rate among infants was a cause for concern and legislators should lobby for free services for pregnant women.

The workshop — attended by more than 43 House of Assembly members, their Senate counterparts and chiefs — ran under the theme: "Every life matters: Every maternal death counts. Save a mother, Save a nation".

The workshop’s objective was to create awareness on maternal and neo-natal morbidity among parliamentarians and to seek their support in finding way to reduce the high death rate.

"Maternal mortality has continued to be a major challenge with the maternal mortality ratio having increased from 283 deaths per 100 000 live births in 1994 to 695 per 100 000 live births in 1999, but the census of 2002 indicates that it has risen tremendously," Dr Parirenyatwa said.

He said the high mortality rate was of great concern as the Government considers health a basic human right to be enjoyed by all.

A major factor contributing to the rising morbidity, he said, was the delay by pregnant women in seeking health care owing to failure to access hospitals because of high medical costs.

"One of the major reasons that forces women to give birth at their homes is that they cannot afford the medical costs so this is when we call upon parliamentarians to come in and lobby for a free health delivery system," he said.

Dr Parirenyatwa also said parliamentarians should come up with an alternative system to accommodate those groups in society that could not afford health care.

Citing other factors contributing to the high mortality rate such as shortage of essential drugs, ambulances and skilled personnel, he called upon parliamentarians to lobby for sufficient funding of the country’s health sector.

"Parliamentarians should articulate and emphasise the need for adequate funding in the health sector," he said, pointing out leaders’ critical role in promoting health in general.

The minister also said the country’s health institutions should undergo refurbishment as most of the equipment was old and needed to be replaced while other institutions should be equipped.

At the same time, Dr Parirenyatwa said, road networks linking primary health centres ought to be upgraded to allow for easy access to the centres.

"The long distances to and between health facilities call for a reliable form of transport to save lives," he added.

Dr Parirenyatwa said the main challenge in this regard was for Zimbabwe to reduce the infant mortality rate by two-thirds and maternal morbidity by three-quarters by 2015 in order to meet the Millennium Development Goals.

He cited malaria and the HIV/Aids pandemic as exacerbating the morbidity.

He said most of the deaths during pregnancy and childbirth were preventable if mothers had access to good ante-natal, delivery and post-natal care.

The workshop also sought to enlighten legislators on the challenges faced by the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare in its efforts to reduce infant and maternal morbidity.

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