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A Woman Dies Every 20 minutes Due to Pregnancy-Related Causes
Pregnancy is a normal, healthy state which most women aspire to
attain at some point in their lives. Yet, this normal life-affirming
process carries with it serious risks of death and disability. In
Pakistan almost 25,000-30,000 women die each year due to pregnancy-related
causes. In other words, one woman dies every 20 minutes usually
of an avoidable cause.
This was stated by Suhela Asif, Director General, Ministry of Women
Development, at the inaugural session of the three-day workshop
titled 'Maternal Mortality Assessment Beyond Numbers: Tools, Methods
and Interpretations' held earlier this week in Islamabad. The workshop
was organised under the auspices of the International Maternal and
Child Health Research and Training Programme (IMCHRT) of the Department
of Community Health Sciences, Aga Khan University (AKU), with technical
support from the Department of Making Pregnancy Safer, WHO, Geneva.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Monir Islam, Director of the Department
of Making Pregnancy Safer, noted that avoiding maternal death is
possible even in resource-strained countries but this requires the
right kind of information on which to base programmes. He added
that WHO's concept of 'Maternal Mortality Beyond Numbers' presents
methods and approaches of generating information that goes beyond
counting maternal death numbers. He applauded the workshop for introducing
this concept in Pakistan for the first time.
Each maternal death has a story to tell and can indicate practical
ways of addressing the problem. "The concept of maternal mortality
beyond numbers is a response to this dire need," said Dr Imtiaz
Jehan, Senior Investigator and Programme Director, IMCHRT. This
workshop will help provide the technical skills required to measure
maternal mortality by highlighting the underlying causes and practical
ways to address them. This technical workshop was attended by participants
from teaching hospitals and maternal health programmes as well as
representatives of the Ministry of Women Development, women health
projects and professional societies and NGOs.
Dr Juanita Hatcher, Acting Chair, Department of Community Health
Sciences (CHS), AKU, introduced the scope of IMCHRT, a collaboration
between AKU and the University of Alabama, USA. "This programme
is committed to strengthening the technical capacity of Pakistani
researchers, health professionals and programme managers in an effort
to improve maternal and child health in the country," she explained.
In view of the goals of IMCHRT, several training and capacity development
options are defined, such as a research trainee programme in CHS,
IMCHRT Scholarship Award, start-up research project and thematic
training workshops on topics relevant to maternal and child health.
AKU appreciates that the endemic problems of a region beset by
financial difficulties and low development indicators can be addressed
only through relevant research focusing on producing low-cost, accessible
and innovative solutions.
Workshop
Details...
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