PESHAWAR, July 21: The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has launched a project in the NWFP to improve the mothercare and neo-natal health situation. The project has been launched in Buner and Upper Dir districts, where facilities for obstetric and neonatal emergency care at health outlets would be strengthened.
USAID which had stopped its activities after the Pressler Amendment has allocated $50 million for the project.
The Pakistan Initiative for Mothers and Newborns (PAIMAN), a consortium, has been formed to launch its activities in 10 districts of the four provinces.
Health facilities in far-flung districts would be equipped with basic necessities to enable them to provide post and pre-natal care.
“Four districts have been selected in Punjab and two each in the NWFP, Sindh and Balochistan,” said Dr Tahir Nadeem Khan, Field Operations Manager, NWFP.
According to him, the consortium, PAIMAN, includes John Snow Inc (JSI), a US-based public health organization, the Aga Khan Foundation and a consultancy firm Contech International, Pakistan.
He said the project, which would be completed over a period of five years, was aimed at strengthening the existing health facilities in the selected districts and filling up vacant posts.
“The NWFP government has already announced facilities for health professionals who are ready to perform duties in the far off districts. Buner and Upper Dir are among the far-flung areas where health professional would be given more salary and facilities that they would otherwise get in the cities,” said Dr Khan.
He said about 80 per cent of births in Pakistan were supervised by unskilled birth attendants, due to which 50 per cent of the newborn babies died before attaining the age of one month, whereas 50 per cent of them died on the very first day of their birth.
The project has been designed to provide need-based assistance to health facilities in the targeted districts. To begin with, he said, a survey had been launched to recognise problems which would be followed by putting in place an infrastructure, where people could develop trust in health facilities.
He said most people preferred delivery of babies at home because of lack of trust in the existing health facilities coupled with transport problems.
For this purpose, he said, the Edhi Welfare Trust had agreed to start ambulance services in the selected districts to rush a pregnant woman to the nearby health facility.
“We are focusing to strengthen the capacity of workers by imparting training to them and carrying out renovation and repair of labour rooms at the public sector health facilities,” said Dr Nabeela Ali, chief of JSI, Pakistan.
She said the project’s aim was utilize health facilities through provision of equipment, drugs, stretchers, wheel-chairs and accessories required to prevent mothers and newborn babies from diseases.
She said the Greenstar Social Marketing was a part of the consortium, which had been tasked to introduce cutting-edge interventions for the public-private partnerships to improve mother and neonatal health. Furthermore, the services of the US-based Johns Hopkins University Centre for Communication had been acquired to develop behaviour change communication, mobilisation and advocacy strategies to facilitate smooth sailing of the project, she added.
Dr Ali said Save the Children USA, Population Council of Pakistan, Pakistan Voluntary Health and Nutrition Association, National Committee for Maternal Health and Mercy Corps International had also pledged to extend help to the project in specified areas.
The project, based on the ‘Pathway to Care and Survival’, has five strategic objectives, including raising awareness and promoting maternal and neonatal health behaviours, increase access to and increase community involvement in maternal and child health services and ensuring that these services are delivered through health and ancillary health services, she said.
According to her, the project would also make efforts to improve the quality of services both at public and private sectors, increasing capacity of health providers and improvement of management and integration of health services at all level.