EU gives Zambia 52 mln Euros grant to strengthen maternal health
Xinhua, May 5, 2016 Adjust font size:
The European Union has given Zambia 52 million Euros for a program aimed at strengthening maternal health, a senior official said on Thursday.
The funds will go towards strengthening the provision of comprehensive emergency obstetric and newborn care in maternal health, according to health minister Joseph Kasonde.
He told parliament that the grant was helping the government to provide more care to women and newborn babies experiencing complications occurring during pregnancy, labor and immediately after childbirth.
The grant would be used for a period of more than two years and was key in accelerating the reduction of maternal and neonatal mortality, he added.
"We are committed to seeing a reduction in maternal and neonatal morality, and we are working on new strategies by also employing more health workers to be deployed in various health centers," he said.
The government, he said, has since started conducting the emergency obstetric and newborn care training in nursing schools in selected provinces and that the training had become part of the nursing curriculum.
Zambia's maternal mortality ratio over the years has fallen, declining from 729 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2001/2002 to 398 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2013/2014, according to the Central Statistical Office in Zambia. Endit