Jhelum, May 27, 2006: Home deliveries will be safer
for mother and baby and more likely to be infection
free with the introduction of Clean Start, a prepackaged
delivery kit. Clean Start contains all the essential
materials needed to conduct a normal delivery, and is
now available for purchase by families and birth attendants
throughout Pakistan.
The Clean Start product was launched today in Jhelum
at the Tulip Riverside Hotel through funding from
the United States Agency for International Development
(USAID) and marketing by Goodlife (G) Limited (an
associate of Greenstar Social Marketing), in association
with the Pakistan Initiative for Mothers and Newborns
(PAIMAN Project), also funded by USAID.
The Secretary of the Ministry of Population Welfare,
Mr. Shahzado Shaikh, participated in the launch event
and strongly supported the marketing of this product
to protect mother and newborn health. Mr. Jonathan
Addleton, the Mission Director of USAID/Pakistan stated
that “USAID places the highest value on saving
the lives of women and their newborn babies. Clean
Start will be especially useful for women in rural
areas and will assist the traditional birth attendants
who deliver their babies.”
Eighty percent of all births in Pakistan take place
at home. Women delivering at home are usually cared
for by traditional birth attendants. At present, the
majority of deaths and disease in newborn babies can
be attributed to infection, brought on, in part, by
unsafedelivery practices. Clean Start offers a solution
to this problem at an affordable price and is likely
to be purchased by concerned families and responsible
birth attendants. Clean Start will be widely available
through chemists, rural shops, non-governmental organizations
and community based organizations.
The United States, through USAID, is providing more
than $1.5 billion in development assistance to Pakistan
over the next five years to improve education, health,
governance and economic growth. In addition, the United
States has pledged a total of $510 million in earthquake
relief and reconstruction efforts to assist the people
of Pakistan and to support Pakistani government efforts.
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