Bivan Saluseki
23 May 2001
Lusaka — Zambia's maternal mortality is too high, disclosed Central Board of Health (CBoH) director Dr. Ben Chriwa yesterday.
Speaking at a one day safe motherhood workshop organised by the Zambia Integrated Health Project (ZIHP), Dr. Chirwa said an estimated 1,400 mothers out of every 100,000 die during delivery of babies in Zambia. "In Zambia maternal mortality is from 200 per 100, 000 to 1,400 per 100,000 in live births," Dr. Chirwa said.
"In other countries they talk about less than 10 to less than two." Dr. Chirwa said pregnancy in developing countries was a stressful period. "What we are dealing with here is about very high maternal mortality," he said.
Dr. Chirwa said the media had an important role to play in educating people on safe motherhood. He said pregnancy was a normal psychological experience which should not be life threatening.
Dr. Chirwa said 1,400 deaths was too high a number. ZIHP information, education and communication co-ordinator for safe pregnancy Grace Sinyangwe said most of the deaths could be avoided by putting in strategic interventions.
Sinyangwe said Zambia is one of the countries with the highest maternal mortality in sub Saharan Africa despite 92 per cent expectant mothers attending ante natal. She cited long distances, ignorance of benefits and medical fear among others as being the reasons why mothers decide to deliver at their homes and die in the process.
Country director Rick Hughes said statistics on Zambia about maternal mortality have been getting worse. "But it is high time we started doing something about it," Hughes said.
"Zambia has an extremely high ante natal attendance but women are dying." Hughes said even if resources are limited, there is a lot that can be done to reverse the situation saying Sri Lanka had managed to do so. She said donors' priorities should be for the benefit of the recipients.
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