A three-day conference ended yesterday in Kigali with a call to boost Kangaroo mother care, which delegates agreed was an effective way to improve the survival chances of preterm and low birth weight infants.

Implementing, planning and mainstreaming kangaroo mother care in health service systems were the main focus of discussion on the last day of the meeting that brought together policymakers, researchers and other stakeholders.

One of the recommendations was a call for more research on safety and challenges hindering scaling up of kangaroo mother care across the region.

Speaking at the closure of the conference, the Minister for Health, Dr Agnes Binagwaho, emphasised that survival of both the mother and child was critical.

Dr Lisine Tuyisenge, chairperson Rwanda Pediatric Association, promised to work closely with other associations to curb "this unfortunate situation.”

"We are ready to work closely with every other association in the world to curb child prematurity deaths in the world,” she said.

Dr Binagwaho appreciated the experience shared in the meeting and called for more research by experts to unearth all the bottlenecks hindering the implementation of the care system.

"We should focus on how best we can ensure the survival of the mother and child. We also need systematic education for proper implementation,” she said.

"I think the recommendation is to convince the world to embrace kangaroo mother care early enough,” she said.

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