Ministry of Health & Environment

		PRINT THIS			SEND TO A FRIEND

Director of Family Health Services and focal point for Reproductive Health and Safe Motherhood in the Ministry of Health and Environment, Dr. Karen Lewis-Bell displays a poster highlighting early and regular antenatal care. Occasion was the weekly JIS 'Think Tank' on April 30.

Jamaica's figures for maternal death will be reduced by more than 50 per cent of the current 95 maternal deaths out of 100,000 live births by 2015, said Director of Family Health Services in the Ministry of Health and Environment, Dr. Karen Lewis-Bell.

The United Nations, as one of its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), has asked countries to work to reduce global maternal mortality by 75 per cent from the current 190 deaths out of 100,000 live births, by 2015.

Dr. Lewis Bell, who is also the focal point for Reproductive Health and Safe Motherhood, told JIS News that "with all that the Ministry has implemented, we still feel that the goal and target of 75 per cent reduction in maternal mortality by 2015 is a little bit difficult for Jamaica at this time".

"We do have a lot of limitations in terms of resources, financial, human and equipment tools. We think based on what we are seeing so far and measures that we hope to put in place with our strategic plan, maybe 2025 might be a more realistic target for us," she stated.

Dr. Lewis-Bell said that the 75 per cent reduction as stipulated by the MDGs is more realistic for countries in Sub-Saharan Africa where there are very high maternal mortality ratios. "For us to reduce it to 25 [maternal deaths per 100,000 live births] would mean that we would have to get maternal mortality ratios that developed countries now have," she pointed out.

Maternal mortality is one of the critical indicators of a nation's ability to adequately meet and serve its citizen's health needs.

Dr. Lewis Bell said that while Jamaica has made significant improvement in reducing the direct causes of maternal mortality, there are still challenges to decrease the indirect causes including lifestyle diseases such as obesity and heart disease.

Jamaica is one of the few countries in the Caribbean that has an active maternal mortality surveillance system that searches cases and tabulates them.

		PRINT THIS			SEND TO A FRIEND