Conference Highlights Dramatic Maternal and Child Health Gains
In June 2007, the regional administration in Omsk, Russia, in partnership with the USAID’s Maternal and Child Health Initiative (MCHI), held an international conference entitled “Protection of Family Health at the Current Stage: Maternal and Child Health Project.” The conference was opened by Omsk Vice-Governor for Social Protection Irina Prozorova.
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| Hospitals receive UNICEF/WHO’s “Baby-Friendly Hospital” title |
Over 200 people from 20 Russian regions and from several Central Asian and Eastern European countries took part. The conference was also attended by the key federal partners of MCHI at the Ministry of Health and Social Development, the Federal Service on Monitoring the Quality of Health and Social Services, the Confederation of the Society of Consumers, and the Union of Civil Society for the Children of Russia. Participants discussed perinatal care, reproductive health, prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, sexually-transmitted infections, reform of medical education, and patient and health care worker rights.
MCHI pilot regions showed impressive results in reducing maternal and infant mortality by two or more times in the project sites, thus contributing to the goals of Russia’s National Health Priority Project. Before the project began in Krasnoyarsk, only about half of one percent of infants born in 2003 were diagnosed as healthy, now 46 percent of infants are healthy. Hypertension in pregnant women, one of the major contributors to maternal death, fell from 28 percent to 7 percent, thanks to the project. A special feature of the conference was the awarding of UNICEF/WHO’s title of “baby-friendly” hospital to three participating maternity hospitals in the Omsk region. The coveted title signifies excellence in the care of mothers and newborns.
Resolutions formulated by the conference participants for improving health care for mothers and infants are being transmitted to the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Development and the Presidential Administration.
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