Zanzibar — ZANZIBAR Second Vice President, Mr Hemed Suleiman Abdulla has asked development partners and health experts to devise more measures for minimizing or preventing maternal and newborn deaths in Zanzibar.
"The government takes multiple steps to improve health care including infrastructure development and plans to establish Universal Health Insurance, aimed at ending the preventable deaths of our mothers and new-borns," Mr Abdulla said.
He was speaking at launching of the 13th Annual Joint Health Sector Review Meeting (AJHSRM) yesterday held here under the theme "Quality and equity through financial reform and public-private partnership for a resilient health system."
At the meeting which involved development partners and other key stakeholders including medical practitioners from Zanzibar and Tanzania mainland, the Minister for Health, Mr Nassor Ahmed Mazrui said 60 per cent of the maternal and infant mortality are preventable.
Mr Mazrui attributed the deaths to poor infrastructure, shortage of skilled human resources, and negligence by some health practitioners.
He vowed: "Those who still lack commitment and patriotism must change so that we serve people better and prevent deaths."
Dr Amour Suleiman Mohamed, Zanzibar's Director of Health, noted that maternal mortality rate was still high, as statistics indicate that in 2021 there were 134 deaths in every 100,000 live births.
In the previous years, 2019 and 2020 ,the figures were 166/100,000 and 120/100,000; respectively.
Dr Salim Slim, Director of Preventive and Health Education in the Ministry of Health, appealed to the development partners and others to invest more so that Zanzibar becomes the best place for women and newborns, particularly to develop human resources and equipment.
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Dr Alice Christensen, Jhpiego's Chief of Party, who spoke on behalf of development partners at the event, commended the government's efforts in its investment and focus on improving the quality of healthcare services.
"We call upon the government and development partners to invest more in increasing access to equitable maternal, new-born health services by ensuring that there are competent providers with positive attitude at every birth," she said.
She added that access to emergency referral services is available and used by those in need; and essential family planning services are available for all women, as other crucial steps for the development of women and children.
