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Namibia: Maternal Death Rate Shoots Up
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New Era (Windhoek)
29 January 2008
Posted to the web 29 January 2008
Wezi Tjaronda
Windhoek
Namibia is experiencing reversals on child, infant and maternal health despite being one of the leading countries in reporting progress on child survival.
Infant and under-five mortality rates have increased, while the number of women who die during pregnancy, delivery or shortly after giving birth has doubled.
Preliminary results of the 2006 demographic and health survey indicate that there is a major increase in maternal deaths, with the sharp decrease in infant and child mortality rates not having been sustained.
The data that the Ministry of Health and Social Services is still analysing indicates that the maternal mortality rate increased from 227 per 100000 live births in 2000 to 449 in 2006. Child mortality rate increased from 62 per 1000 live births to 69 per 1000 live births while the infant mortality rate also went up from 38 per 1000 live births to 46 per 1000 live births.
Health and Social Services Minister, Dr Richard Kamwi, yesterday said HIV/Aids was at the core of these shocking statistics.
Kamwi was speaking at the launch of the State of the World Children 2008 and the Namibian Supplement to the global report whose theme is 'Child Survival'.
UNICEF representative, Khin-Sandi Lwin, said the topic of child survival was important because at its heart lies human development.
"The measurement of child survival: Infant and under-five mortality rates is a barometer of a country's overall and social development goals," she said.
However, HIV/Aids is not the only cause of the deaths because many children die of preventable diseases such as pneumonia, malaria, malnutrition and diarrhoea.
The supplement said opportunistic infections such as TB, pneumonia and susceptibility to malaria were killing pregnant women and children whose immune systems are already weakened by the pandemic.
Namibia rolled out an anti-retroviral treatment and prevention of mother-to-child transmission programme in 2006, but children born before that time might have been at risk of infection, said Kamwi.
Today 45000 HIV patients have access to ARVs, while 39016 attend ante-natal clinics at PMTCT sites out of 57720 pregnant women that visit ANC countrywide. Despite these achievements, the supplement said, the attention of personnel in the Ministry was detracted from preventative care for childhood illnesses and routine maternal health services because the health care system is stretched beyond its capacity.
"However, the critical shortage of health care professionals continues to hamper effective health services delivery," said Kamwi.
The gains that Namibia made after independence, such as reducing infant and under-five mortality rates have been reversed despite the health sector enjoying the highest budgetary allocation.
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Not all hope is lost, however, as the supplement said Namibia could make up for lost ground if more money and personnel continue to be provided.
Kamwi also made a plea for more funding for health systems support and not just limited to HIV/Aids.
Looking at the fact that Namibia surpassed World Health Organisation targets in rolling out ART in two years, as well as the success of the countrywide immunisation campaign against polio in 2006, Lwin said when the Ministry, civil society and the Cabinet put their minds to see results, "we can be sure to see results".
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