The First Lady is participating in a two-day international health summit in Los Angeles hosted by US Doctors for Africa (USDFA) and partnered by the United Nations Office for Partnerships (UNOP).
During the meeting Maria da Luz Guebuza pointed out that that 90 per cent of maternal deaths occur in developing countries. Half of these deaths are in Africa, where about 20 per cent of children do not live to the age of five.
In Mozambique the maternal mortality rate remains high with over 400 women per 100,000 live births dying due to complications during labour. Eleven women die every day from problems linked to pregnancy and childbirth.
However, this is a considerable improvement compared with the 1990s when the maternal mortality rate was 1,600 per 100,000 live births.
“This is a dreadful situation for families to go through, a tragedy for the thousands of orphaned children who will not know the love and warmth of a mother, creating the conditions for poverty and other problems”, lamented Maria da Luz.
The First Lady pointed out that child mortality rates in Mozambique have dropped from 153 per thousand live births in 2003 to 141 per thousand in 2008.
Despite this progress, Mozambique continues to work to reduce the mortality rate of children under the age of five. In 2004 it introduced a vaccine against Hepatitis B and in 2009 brought in a vaccine against Haemophilus influenza. In addition, in April it will introduce the pneumococcal vaccine against pneumonia and meningitis.
The reduction in child mortality has been largest in rural areas, where the rate has dropped from 237 per thousand live births between 1987 and 1997 to 162 per thousand during the decade 1998 – 2008, a drop of 32 per cent.
“These results are derived from improved access to health services and the quality of the services provided”, said Maria da Luz, noting that the country has just over 1,250 health units and 1,268 doctors, numbers which still does not meet the health needs of the population.
Maria da Luz shared with the summit the work that her office has been carrying out to reduce maternal, infant and neonatal mortality through mobilising resources, strengthening the health system and facilitating access to information and healthcare particularly in rural areas.
Maria da Luz is the Patron of the National Partnership for the Promotion of Maternal, Infant and Neonatal Health, which works with public and private institutions to promote the active participation of all segments of society.
She invited the summit participants to come to a conference due to be held in Maputo in July on cervical cancer.
In Mozambique, out of every hundred new cases of cancer diagnosed in women, eight are breast cancer and 32 are cervical cancer.
For men, prostate cancer is the most common cancer, representing 16 per cent of cancer cases.
Post published in: Africa News