US donates new centre to lower maternal mortality

In an effort to halt maternal mortality in Angola, the United States has established a new centre to serve about 7,000 pregnant women in Viana, a poor suburb in the capital, Luanda. Maternal mortality in Angola reached 1,300 per 100,000 births in 2003, an improvement over the 1,835 registered in the previous year, but still one of the highest rates in the world. In Luanda, only 62 percent of the pregnant women have access to medical care before delivery. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) 25 percent of all maternal deaths in Angola are related to malaria complications. Work on the new maternity centre began in 2002 and now boasts a fully functional maternity facility, including a prenatal unit, delivery room, new-born assistance, post-delivery unit, laboratory and family planning unit. "This will help to decongest services in the neighbouring maternity centre of Ana Paula, ensure that all pregnant women have a safe delivery, increase the accessibility to health care, and increase the coverage of institutional deliveries," the US embassy in Angola said in statement on Monday. Angola's health care system was severely disrupted by the 27-year long civil war, which ended in April 2002. Hospitals and health posts, where they exist, are in dire need of rehabilitation. Additional support from the US will be provided this year to rehabilitate another maternity centre in Cazenga, a densely populated suburb of Luanda. "Since a number of [maternal] deaths are caused by malaria complications, Angola has mobilised communities to develop activities to reduce the impact of this killer disease, especially among pregnant women," a WHO official in Angola told IRIN. Meanwhile, this week the country's health ministry noted that only 30 per cent of Angolans had access to public health care. Health Minister Albertina Hamukwaia told state news agency, Angop on Tuesday that while the lack of medical staff was of serious concern the situation was made worse by the poor conditions of hospitals and health centres. Hamukwaia said the government would "create the conditions to place some health professional staff to peripheral areas", and carry out continuous training of nurses.