Training programme takes aim at maternal mortality

Health professionals in five Yemeni governorates are receiving training this week on methods used to reduce maternal mortality. Half a million women worldwide die from complications at childbirth every year. According to UN Children’s Fund UNICEF, 99 percent of these are in developing countries. In the governorate of Taiz, 50 health professionals took part in the programme, which ultimately aims to reduce maternal mortality by three quarters countrywide by 2015. “Our targets are quite achievable if we work closely with the government, donors and NGOs in a transparent manner,” said Abdul-Naser al-Kabab, general director of health in the Taiz governorate. While there are no statistics on how many women die from child birth each year in Taiz, the trend has been better documented on a national level. “Some 130,000 women are at high risk of childbirth complications every year,” said Naseem Ur-Rehman, head of information and communications for UNICEF in Yemen. “About 42 percent of women at the reproductive age lose their lives in the process of giving birth.” As well as in Taiz, training programmes are also being conducted over the next few weeks in the governorates of Lahij, al-Dhalei, Ibb and Amran, areas known for their general lack of health infrastructure. The benefits of training are expected to eventually reach some 6.6 million people, or 35 percent of the total population. “This training will lead to increased chances of survival for mothers and newborns, and will cast attention on problems that have been long neglected in such districts,” said Ur-Rehman. In Taiz, there are only 267 midwives – roughly one for every 500 births. “This is obviously not enough,” Ur-Rehman said. “To reduce maternal mortality, more attention must be paid to the mother's health during pregnancy and at the moment of delivery.” Dr Sameera al-Tuwaijri, regional advisor for reproductive health policy for Arab states at the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), affirmed that Yemen was one of five countries in the region that had made the least progress in terms of reducing maternal risk. “A lot of mothers end up in a condition that makes their lives miserable,” she said. “This issue needs much attention.” MAJ/SZ/AM