Steps being taken to reduce MMR in B’chistan: minister

MN Report

QUETTA- Balochistan Health Minister Rehmat Saleh Baloch has said that the government was taking adequate measures to help reduce the maternal mortality rate (MMR) in the province.

He was speaking at a seminar jointly organised by Quetta’s MNCH Programme and Save the Children and Mercy Corps to mark the International Midwives’ Day.

Elaborating on the subject, the minister said the government was trying to provide all facilities to government hospitals, even to those located in far flung areas of the province, so as to curtail the MMR in the province.

Claiming that Balochistan government has accorded priority to the health sector, he said that the government has regularized services of 7,265 lady health workers, besides deploying 500 community midwives in different areas of the province.

He said 750 community midwives had completed their 18-month-long course and they would be posted in their respective areas, besides, the government had also created 198 new posts of vaccinators.

MNCH Programme’s senior manager Daud Khan Achakzai said that the provincial government should take immediate measures to reduce the maternal and child mortality rate by providing maximum health facilities to people.

According to him, 36 women hailing from Gwadar, Lasbela and Ziarat are currently receiving professional training of midwifery at the Public Health School, Quetta.