PESHAWAR, Jan 13: NWFP Health Minister Inayatullah Khan has asked international donors to help the government develop facilities for child and maternal health in the rural areas of the province.

Speaking at a one-day workshop entitled 'Maternal and Neonatal Health Project' here on Thursday, the minister said that the blocks housing basic health units, rural health centres and dispensaries needed renovation.

The minister enumerated the measures required to make health services available to a large number of people. Mr Khan also sought donors help in upgrading hospitals in district headquarters.

Dr Nadeem Zuberi of the Aga Khan University Hospital said that a woman died of pregnancy-related complications every minute. "As a result of maternal deaths, some one million children are left without a mother around the world, who are three to 10 times more likely to die within two years than the children who live with their parents," he said.