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amid revelations that the uptake of safe motherhood programmes remains very low in the country.
Speaking at the official launch of Blue Star Health Network in Bulawayo yesterday, the Minister of Health and Child Welfare, Dr Henry Madzorera, said the country was facing a serious attitude problem in terms of family planning and safe motherhood programmes.
Blue Star Health Network is a social franchise programme aimed at creating partnerships among stakeholders in the country’s health sector to improve the quality of family planning services.
Minister Madzorera said some of the causes of death that needed intervention were complications emanating from HIV and Aids related conditions which are responsible for about 25 percent of the deaths, lack of access to skilled attendance at health centres and loss of blood.
“The health of mothers and children declined markedly between 2000 and 2009 and maternal mortality increased from 168 deaths per thousand births in 1990 to 960 deaths per thousand live births according to the 2010/2011 Demographic Health Survey. Every day 10 women die due to complications linked to pregnancy and child birth,” said Dr Madzorera.
He said there was a need for interventions like intensifying Prevention of Mother to Child
Transmission and improving supply of blood for pregnant women to reduce maternal deaths.
Minister Madzorera said what was worrying was that stock out rates for family planning commodities remained lower than five percent with unmet need for the services stagnant at 13 percent.
He said the Government was committed to improving the family planning policy environment to improve service delivery particularly for vulnerable groups and adolescents where a negative attitude was rampant.
The Minister said plans were underway to embark on a national awareness campaign to conscientise Zimbabweans on family planning programmes.
“Our biggest problem is attitude… we need an attitude change in Zimbabwe particularly on family planning issues because we get some abortions as a result of attitude when one gets pregnant.
“Some people end up aborting illegally and dying. We are throwing this on the table to say let us debate on it because the girl child is the most affected,” said Minister Madzorera.
He said there were about 780 000 unwanted pregnancies per year, which people usually try to abort thereby putting their lives at risk and could be averted if people embraced family planning.
Turning to the Blue Star franchise, Minister Madzorera said there was a need to form partnerships with private healthcare practitioners to provide quality reproductive health services.
Blue Star was initiated by Population Services Zimbabwe in conjunction with other partners.
The official launch was held concurrently with the official opening of the first such model health centre at Morgan House Clinic along Samuel Parirenyatwa Street in the city.
“I want to thank PSZ for coming up with such a programme but emphasise that we need a sustainable programme that will last for many years. In an effort to reduce unmet needs and scale up accessibility of services, PSZ has launched a new service delivery innovation, Blue Star.
“Such health service will improve the nation’s reproductive health objectives on access to contraception and will focus on long term family planning methods,” said Minister Madzorera.
USAID Mission director Ms Reena Shukla who was representing PSZ said training of partners had already started in Matabeleland North, South, Bulawayo, Harare and Mashonaland East.
“This social franchise is aimed at establishing partnerships with the private service providers with a goal to improve the quality of service delivery,” she said.
Well travelled Bulawayo dance group Inkululeko Yabatsha School of Arts (Iyasa) and renowned imbongi Albert Nyathi thrilled the gathering and stole the hearts with their skills.
Online Reporter