WISE NEWS

Canada moves to up healthcare in Tz

Women pose after accessing maternal health services. Apart from providing general health care, Canada will try to address the problem of lack of personnel especially in the rural areas. PHOTO files By Abubakar Waissa Dar es Salaam. In Tanzania, births, postnatal complications and underlying conditions such as anaemia and malnutrition are major causes of maternal mortality. In the country, there have been significant reductions in under-five child mortality from 147 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1999 to the new estimate of 81 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2009 to 2010. Progress can still be made to lower the rate even further. Maternal mortality in Tanzania is still unacceptably high and progress is slow due to a number of factors, including a lack of qualified health workers and limited availability of obstetric care. Many proven interventions to improve maternal and child health are being undertaken in the country. To be effective and to have an impact on national mortality rates, these interventions need to be expanded to a much larger scale. The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) recently announced Canada’s G8 Muskoka initiative to improve healthcare for mothers and children in Tanzania. Through the Muskoka Initiative on Maternal, Newborn and Child health, Canada is working with the government of Tanzania and international and civil society partners to scale up proven interventions related to maternal, newborn, and child health and nutrition for a greater impact on national mortality rates. To help Tanzania, the initiative will strengthen health services at the community level and address the lack of skilled health personnel and limited access to health services and supplies. Through the initiative, Canada is increasing pre-service training for health workers and aids in the recruitment, retention and training programmes for doctors, nurses and midwives at the community level. It will also increase access to medicines, medical supplies and family planning at the district level it will also improve access to maternal, newborn, and child health services at the district level, particularly in underserved areas, through training and construction and rehabilitation of health facilities and improve referral systems including communication and transportation. In conjunction with existing country plans and efforts, Canada with Tanzania and other partners will work toward the following health achievements by 2015, the reduction of maternal mortality to 256 per 1,000 live births. The reduction of under-five mortality to 54 per 1,000 live births, the reduction of infant mortality to 38 per 1,000 live births and the reduction of neonatal mortality (within 28 days of birth) from 26 to 19 per 1,000 live births. The anticipated results of the initiative by 2015, is that more than six million women will have benefited from antenatal care and delivery services. Also more than 40,000 new health workers hired and trained with 4,000 health workers trained in Maternal Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) service delivery. It will provide micro nutrition supplements for women and children under five to prevent anaemia and vitamin A deficiency and strengthen government-led efforts and building national capacity to scale up and catalyse action on nutrition in order to improve health and reduce deaths among the most disadvantaged women and children. The country is assisting Tanzania to reduce diseases by providing medicines and supplies for the prevention and treatment of HIV/Aids, tuberculosis, malaria and diarrhoea diseases especially for mothers and children. Other anticipated results of the initiative is that 28 million children and women immunised, more than two million pregnant women reached with malaria prevention and more than 400,000 pregnant women receiving treatment to prevent the mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Some of 18,000 pregnant and lactating women and more than 150,000 children under-five years of age will benefit from improved use of community health services, enhanced household’s nutrition practices, and improved utilisation of disease prevention and treatment measures, with a particular focus on malaria, diarrhoea, pneumonia, and mother-to-child transmission of HIV/Aids. Speaking with health stakeholders during the launching ceremony of the programme, Canada’s head of cooperation, Mr John Moore, said the project will help strengthen the delivery of health care services, improve nutrition, and address common and preventable diseases that cause maternal, newborn and child deaths. He said as part of Canada’s G8 Muskoka initiative, the launching was made on the margins of the national workshop on the accountability Framework for Women’s and Children’s Health hosted by the Tanzania government from April 23 to 25 in Dar es Salaam. “Canada and Tanzania are committed to take action to put a stop to dying during pregnancy and childbirth and children dying before their fifth birthday,” said Mr Moore. He said this will be achieved by improving infrastructure, equipment and training related to prenatal, newborn and child health and nutrition practices, and providing greater access to family planning and vaccinations. According to Mr Moore, Canada will provide over $127 million (about Sh190.5 billion) over the next four years (2011-2015) to support Tanzania to improve maternal, newborn and child health outcomes particularly in underserved regions of Tanzania. “Canada’s funding is expected to help immunise 24 million children and pregnant women against preventable diseases, provide 4 million women with antenatal and delivery care, help protect 2 million pregnant women from malaria, and reach a further 300,000 pregnant women with treatment and drugs to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV,” he said. Officiating at the launch of the project on behalf of the ministry of Health and Social Welfare, the director of Preventive Health Services in the ministry, Dr Donan Mbando, said the project will help increase the ability of existing health systems to deliver quality services. “The government of Tanzania is pleased to be working in partnership with Canada and other stakeholders to improve the health of Tanzanian women and children through improving access to and knowledge of life saving health services,” he said. He pointed out that Tanzania was selected in 2009 as a country of focus as part of the government of Canada’s aid effectiveness agenda and is one of 10 countries where CIDA aid focusing on Muskoka initiative for maternal, newborn and child health. The CIDA programme assistant, Ms Julie Urio, said the project will also aim to improve community awareness and health practices and increase demand for MNCH and nutritional services example of activities include upgrading health centres and dispensaries. “This project will help Tanzania to confront the crisis in maternal, newborn and child mortality by improving health outcomes throughout its national health system,” she said.