SOUTHERN PROVINCE

HUYE—Over twenty medical personnel including doctors, nurses, gynecologists and midwives from different hospitals on Monday completed a three-week training programme on maternal and infant mortality organized by the Capacity Project.

Speaking at the closure of the training programme in the district, Dr. Ousmane Faye, the Capacity Project country director asked trainees to look for local solutions to local problems before seeking for help elsewhere.

"As people on the ground, it is important that you exhaust all avenues of solving problems then you look up to other partners for assistance. Intra-Health/Capacity among other partners will continue to support you in an endeavour to provide proper health care to Rwandans.”

The maternal health and child-survival training mainly focused on women’s health during pregnancy, and women who may develop emergency cases that need quick attention before developing life threatening complications.

During the training, it was stressed that death of babies after birth could be reduced if maternity personnel knew more about complications that lead to babies’ death.

Dr William Twahirwa, an official from the Capacity Project in charge of family planning said that the training aimed at helping personnel in district hospitals with vital skills in handling maternity related cases.

"Many lives can be saved if mothers are treated as quickly as possible before they get life threatening complications during pregnancy and at child delivery. This training has equipped medical personnel from district hospitals with these vital life saving skills,” said Dr. Twahirwa.

For this to be achieved, Dr. Twahirwa called upon heath authorities to play a vital role in encouraging expectant mothers to always visit hospitals for antenatal check ups.

He said that the project would help ensure that ambulance services were operating and that poor mothers would be helped pay for Mutuelles de Santé. Participants were drawn from six hospitals and health centres in the province. The programme will run in the five districts of Gichumbi, Rulindo, Gakenke, Huye and Gisagara.

In Rwanda, maternal mortality rate stands at 1,400 deaths per 100,000 live births, and infant mortality rate stands at 114 deaths per 1,000 live births, as high as in other developing countries.

However, as medical personnel get training and better equipment and as many mothers enrol in the universal health insurance coverage (Mutuelles de Santé), figures are expected to fall drastically.

Intrahealth/Capacity project in Rwanda, also funded by USAID Rwanda, supports the Rwandan government’s efforts to improve primary health care services including family planning and reproductive health services.

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