Diourbel, January 13 (APS) – The regional health directorate (DRS) of Diourbel (center) wants to achieve, by 2028, a contraceptive prevalence rate of 29.9%, to considerably reduce maternal deaths.
“We are working to increase the contraceptive prevalence rate in the Diourbel region, which today stands at 16.6%. Our objective is to bring this rate to 29.9% by 2028,” declared Doctor Mamadou Dieng.
Family planning represents a means of preventing maternal deaths, he recalled, during a meeting to share the strategic plan for reproductive, maternal, neonatal, adolescent health and nutrition 2024- 2028.
This meeting also focused on the national budgeted family planning plan 2024-2028, the estimated budget of which is estimated at more than 354 billion CFA francs.
The meeting, chaired by the deputy governor of Diourbel in charge of development, Djibril Diop, was held in the presence of local administrative authorities from the departments of Bambey, Mbacké and Diourbel, as well as local elected officials.
Doctor Mamadou Dieng hopes that the rate of 29.9% will have “an impact on maternal mortality”.
“Achieving this rate could protect certain women from mortality often due to closely spaced pregnancies, to the precariousness of the mother’s health linked to an interbirth interval that is too close,” further explained the regional director of health.
He recalled that planning aims to “space out” births a little, to allow the mother to regain her strength in order to be able to face a new pregnancy.
“We rely heavily on the work of community stakeholders to enlist these women who need this planning. And we will work to position the inputs to make them accessible at all levels for these targeted women in order to have a positive impact on maternal mortality,” he promised.
Concerning neonatal mortality, the regional health director of Diourbel recommended strengthening the supply of neonatal services and increasing the number of mother-child centers and neonatal units at the pediatric ward level.
He also called for strengthening training and the assignment of specialist doctors in pediatrics and neonatology to dedicated services in the region.
Likewise, he reiterated the need to set up a mother-child center at the Bambey health center in order to reduce medical evacuations relating to emergencies.
MS/ASG/BK
