Study shows health care can prevent maternal deaths

A THIRD of maternal deaths, two-thirds of new-born deaths and half of child deaths in the country can be prevented through broad coverage of family and community health care, a research organisation says.
The Burnett Institute of Medical Research in Australia prepared the report titled “Improving maternal, new-born and child health in Papua New Guinea through family and community health care”.
The report, which was released in a two-day national conference on village health volunteers, said of the estimated 5,300 new-born deaths each year in PNG, 30% could be prevented with a basic package of family and community care and up to 70% “will be prevented if there is a maximum scale up of family and community health care”
It said of the estimated 1,500 maternal deaths each year, 480 could be prevented through the approach.
It said family and community health care was the prevention and treatment of illness by family and community members, including trained lay health workers known as village health volunteers in PNG who carried out activities such as counselling, referrals, distribution of contraceptives and child delivery.
“It is essential to maternal, new-born and child health and nutrition because it treats many health threats where health services are not easily accessible,” the report said.
The report said PNG was not on track to meet the millennium development goals four and five relating to child and maternal health but had improved on mortality in children under five years of age from 90 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 61 in 2010.
The report called for a review of family and community health care programmes and their alignment with existing national and provincial health plans as well as greater cooperation between churches, non-government organisations and the government to improve maternal, new-born and child mortality rates in the country.