US$5M IDB funding secured for maternal health programmes

Guyana has secured a US million grant from the Inter-American Development (IDB) to execute a series of programmes aimed at strengthening the country’s maternal health and neonatal services.
Health Minister Dr George Norton disclosed during a recent interview with Guyana Times that the plan was already approved and the programmes, which will be executed over a period of five years, will be commencing shortly.
Currently, he explained that while the government has secured funding, they still have to submit a written document of proposed

initiatives which will be embarked upon.
Providing a brief insight to some of those areas to be addressed, the minister said the significant factor is to ensure that the maternal and neonatal services offered across the country get up to standard.
“We are dealing with improvement in health indicators, challenges remaining in maternal and neonatal health, access and use of maternal and neonatal health services, we are looking at the quality of reproductive and neonatal health services, and other areas,” he stated.
Earlier in the year, the Health Minister had noted that major emphasis will be placed on maternal health in 2016.
He said making health institutions baby-friendly and training more midwives and other health professionals are aspects of a new outlook for maternal health, given the cases of maternal and infant mortality that were recorded the previous year.
Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Shamdeo Persaud also spoke at length about government’s plan to improve the maternal and neonatal healthcare services in the country.
In fact, he admitted that a considerable number of cases of maternal and neonatal deaths were avoidable.
According to Dr Persaud, the situation where infants and mothers have been dying after being treated or having come through labour in perfect health has not gone unnoticed and as such, it is their priority to avert further cases from occurring and restore trust in medical personnel.
He added that much emphasis would be placed on training doctors and nurses on a nationwide level so they are better equipped with the knowledge and skills to care for newborns and mothers.
Further, the ministry will aim to improve the physical condition of all health facilities so deliveries are done in clean and safe surroundings being comfortable for both mothers and newborns during their time at the institution.
This, he said, will go a far way in preventing mothers or newborns from picking up any infection or medical condition as a result of their hospital environment.
At the end of 2015, there had been 17 reported maternal deaths from hospitals across Guyana.