BuaNews (Tshwane)
Gabi Khumalo
25 February 2008
Johannesburg — A new committee, set up by the Department of Health, will investigate the causes of death of pregnant women and children to get an indication of how well the health system is working to protect them.
Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang unveiled the committee on Monday, saying that it would focus on maternal and child health.
"While significant progress has been made in addressing the challenges of maternal and infant mortality in the country, we believe there is still more that needs to be done," said Minister Tshabalala-Msimang explaining the reason for setting up the committee.
The committee, made up of 15 members, will facilitate the development of strategies to determine the factors that lead to pregnant women, newborn babies and infants under the age of five dying.
"The committees will assist in collating and interpreting data that should assist the department in making further advances in these areas, every maternal, perinatal and under five death will be recorded by these committees," explained the minister .
The committee will further record the cause of death, the contributing factors and classify the death incidents accordingly and thereafter make recommendations of the measures that need to be taken to address preventable causes and factors.
"We expect these recommendations to include the identification of improvements in the delivery of health services and protocols or guidelines to better manage cases within the health systems.
"In cases where contributing factors are outside of the health system, we will have to engage with responsible sectors to ensure that such challenges are addresses," said Ms Tshabalala-Msimang.
Stressing the need for reducing the mortality rate of women and infants, Minister Tshabalala-Msimang said: "We have committed to the Millennium Development Goals to reduce child and infant mortality and improve maternal health."
She said the task was enormous and required dedication on the part of the committee members and cooperation from various role players within the national health systems.
Current statistics show that as a result of free health services, more than 94 percent of pregnant women were able to attend antenatal care at least once during their pregnancy and over 84 percent gave birth in health care facilities.
Considering the progress already made in the past ten years in determining the cause of maternal mortality, Ms Tshabalala-Msimang said the National Committee on Confidential Enquiry into Maternal deaths had made good strides.
The work of the committee is published every three years in the Saving Mothers Report.
Speaking to BuaNews, one of the committee members, Professor Eddie Mhlanga from Nelson Mandela School of Medicine said by protecting women and children lives is protecting the nation.
"It is a very big step which got an enormous implication in the health of woken and children.
"It helps us as a nation the Department to look at ourselves and say where are we not doing enough to protect our nation," said professor Mhlanga.
He added that most common direct cause of the maternal deaths were due to high blood pressure and bleeding while HIV and AIDS was indirect cause of the deaths.
"1999 report to 2004 showed that HIV was the most cause of non-pregnancy related infection," said Professor Mhlanga.
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