On May 19 2018 the project “Mothers and Children first” realized by CUAMM, Doctors with Africa, and financed by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS), came to an end with a final workshop gathering all stakeholders involved.
The project focus on the reduction of maternal and perinatal mortality rate, providing free and qualified maternal delivery care to the 413.000 women covered by the health system of Wolisso, Goro and Wonchi districts.
Through a Private-Public Partnership between CUAMM, Catholic Health Care Institutions and local government, the project succeeded in providing free maternal delivery assistance, increasing the coverage of maternal deliveries from 20% in 2012 to 51% in 2017.
Ethiopian women can now rely on the new childbirth assistance service at the St Luke Wolisso Hospital, where even mothers with pregnancy at risk can receive support and skilled birth attendance.
Women and children care is extended in the whole territory, reaching most remote areas where the project sustained supervision, training and capacity building activities for 20 Health Centers in Wolisso, Goro and Wonchi districts, providing access to health in surrounding areas.
The project “Mothers and Children first” is part of a broader initiative for the strengthening of Ethiopian health system, intended to ensure equal access to health services for local communities. The Multiannual collaboration between AICS and CUAMM on different projects has brought significant improvements in terms of health infrastructures and services in the area. Thus thanks to the renovation of hospital infrastructures, to the establishment of a free ambulance service and to training activities addressed to local health professionals and health extension workers. The detection and treatment of severe and moderate acute malnutrition has raised from a total of 35 in 2013 to 864 malnourished children detected and treated in 2017.
Thanks to the “Mothers and children first” project, women and children coming from all areas of Wolisso, Goro e Wonchi districts have finally access and right to quality health services.
“The biggest challenge is to ensure access to health services to the most vulnerable populations, mothers and children. Benefit from skilled birth attendance might substantially affect the reduction of maternal and child mortality rate”.
Gaetano Azzimonti, Medical Director, St Luke Wolisso Hospital, CUAMM.
