By JENNY F. MANONGDO, Manila Bulletin **
April 20, 2012, 7:57pm
The Department of Health (DoH) and partner agencies have vowed to work double-time to shave the number of mothers dying from pregnancy-related complications as it established the ‘162 to 52 coalition’ yesterday.
The 162 to 52 coalition intends to speed up strategic, targeted and innovative public-private partnership for local health system development and attainment of desired maternal and child health indicators with primary focus on areas with poor maternal and child health indices and where the poor are highly concentrated.
According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), 11 mothers die daily in the Philippines due to maternity-related causes.
The present number of maternal deaths in the Philippines is 162 per 100,000 live births. The government target is 52 deaths per 100,000 live births.
“The shortfalls are brought about by inadequate investments in health and not enough political will of our leaders to do what needs to be done to achieve our goals. Unhappily, these shortfalls leave behind the poorest and the most disadvantaged sectors in our society who remain unreached by critical health interventions,” DoH Secretary Enrique T. Ona said.
The priority areas of the program are areas that account for 42 percent of the Philippine population and contribute to 39 percent of maternal deaths and 49 percent of infant deaths in the country. These areas include Cavite, Cebu, Metro Manila, Pampanga, Pangasinan, Davao del Sur, Northern Samar, Sultan Kudarat, Zamboanga del Sur, Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Leyte, Masbate and others.
0 comments:
Post a Comment