North-Western Province Deputy Permanent Secretary Douglas Ngimbu has challenged the Ministry of Health and various stakeholders in the province to actively address the challenges which are contributing towards the increasing number of maternal deaths in the region.
Mr. Ngimbu said maternal deaths have effects at all levels in the country which break down the fibre of society and disrupts continuity of development.
He said this when he officially opened a provincial maternal death review at Kansanshi Hotel in Solwezi today.
Mr. Ngimbu said the Ministry of Health has identified what they should do as a health system to avert maternal deaths and implored other stakeholders to emulate the ministry in the manner they provide solutions to this challenge.
He said there is urgent need to strengthen strategies to reduce teenage pregnancies in the province as the age group of 15 to 19 for girls is associated with high risk morbidity and mortality rate.
Meanwhile, Provincial Health Director, Lawrence Phiri disclosed that the region recorded 47 cases of maternal death this year.
Dr. Phiri said the number of cases has increased as compared to 2017 when 40 maternal deaths were reported.
He said his office and various stake holders are working hard to reduce the current maternal mortality ratio from the current 176 for every 100,000 live births to below 100 for every 100,000 live births.
Dr. Phiri has commended the Ministry of Health for deploying professional health staff for district health facilities in the province.
It should be 0 death.
I think Ministry of Health need to address Mental in PF government, what we are reading is a shocker.
If you must know, the USA maternal mortality rate is among the worst second only to Serbia and has been on the rise. Last time I checked, PF was not running the USA government.
That said, a lot of the nurses in Zambia are negligent to pregnant women. They don’t take their concerns seriously and don’t take the time to properly assess life threatening conditions.
These are p.athetic statistics which Minister Cholera Chilufya will twist and convince his clueless boss Edgar that everything is fine and Mr.Kudus (Sunday Chanda) Ndanje Khakis , Sharon will be singing praises.
Sad, let us hear from Mr.Kudus( Sunday Chanda) and cronies like Sharon, Ndake Khakis and other losers
If we keep doing what we’re doing, we’re going to keep getting what we’re getting.
53 years after independence,our mortality keeps growing.There is no effort at all to arrest the moralities.The country needs to come up with a national programme to stop these mortalities which in 98% are avoidable. If we can put so much enthusiasm and effort to clean up Lusaka ,why can’t we replicate it in saving our wives, mothers,sisters Aunties ?
These are bad statistics which Minister Cholera Chilufya will twist and convince his clueless boss Edgar that everything is fine and Mr.Kudus (Sunday Chanda) Ndanje Khakis , Sharon will be singing praises.
Maternal deaths are preventable but the problem is that politics have engulfed interventions aimed at averting maternal deaths. The major challenge is governance and safe pride
47 MATERNAL DEATH IS FAIR , A JOB WELL DONE BY CONSIDERING OUT OF 100,000 PREGNANT WOMEN ONLY 47 DIE, WHICH ARE UPND SUPPORTERS EVEN
Jokes aside! That number 47 is not just a number. It’s lives of Zambian women who had dreams just like you and me. They wanted to see their children grow up. Children have been orphaned, and this you say a job well done?
Death does not segregate on political affiliation. In most cases, It is the negligence of the Ministry of health to equip the health workers with equipment and medication to reduce the mortality.
If 47 is only for the North Western province, what about the whole Zambia? If your sister or wife was among the 47, would you make such an unfortunate joke?
In some provinces the record is worse, especially Eastern. Some PHOs would rather buy expensive office furniture and not life saving equipment. In Western province they prefer buying land cruisers to drive comfortably in the sand, start demoting some of these people so that they learn a lesson. Linda Kasonde almost died, thank God she was able to afford quality service. But how about those that can’t afford?
NO ONE IS HAPPY WITH 47 MATERNAL DEATHS, HENCE THE MEETING. SOME OF THESE DEATHS OCCUR AT HOME BECAUSE SOME HERBALISTS WANT TO CONDUCT A HOME DELIVERY. OTHERS OCCUR AS A RESULT OF TOO MANY PREGNANCIES BY WOMEN. THE UTERUS BECOMES WEAK AND FAILS TO CONTRACT AFTER DELIVERY, THE WOMAN CAN BLEED TO DEATH. TEEN PREGNANCIES ARE ALSO A RISK. OTHER WOMEN DO NOT GO FOR ANTENATAL CLINIC WHERE PROBLEMS CAN BE IDENTIFIED EARLY. ONLY TO APPEAR AT THE LAST DAY TO DELIVER. OF COURSE WE CANNOT RUN AWAY FROM SOME BAD ROADS, LACK OF CLINICS IN SOME AREAS AND NEGLIGENCE BY SOME CLINIC STAFF.