Consolidate gains of safe motherhood

A new report released last week by Save the Children ranks Rwanda as one of the safest places for mothers. According to the State of the World’s Mothers 2013 report, Rwanda is ahead of its East African peers out of 176 countries that were graded.Over 15 years ago government inherited a badly broken health system without infrastructure and human resource. 19 years later, many things have changed for the better. The government and development partners have done much to create a health environment for the citizens. It has put in place mechanisms to ensure safe motherhood and enhance child and maternal health, through various interventions including training community health workers.This is good, but analysts suggest that with the challenging fiscal constraints, focus should also be put on preventive health interventions.There is need to guarantee a healthy population if the country is to achieve its vision. Therefore, deliberate measures to build strong health care delivery systems should be maintained and sustained.The report indicates that Rwanda’s first-day mortality rate is at 7 (per 1000 live birth) while after a month, the Birth Day Risk Index indicates that Rwanda’s newborn mortality rate (per 1,000 live births) is at 21.Government should work towards eliminating this mortality rate completely through increased training of health workers.Also, while pushing for improved maternal health and new born child care in the country, other public health concerns like family planning, nutrition and reproductive health should equally receive the same attention.

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Consolidate gains of safe motherhood