Empowered barangays have the potential to be at the forefront of preventing childbirth and maternal deaths in the country says Camarines Sur Representative LRay Villafuerte who filed a bill seeking to implement a maternal and childcare program in every barangay covering the first 1,000 days of an infant’s development, from the womb up to two years of age.
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| Photo Credit: bbc.com |
He said that he was alarmed by the recent statement of Anthony Costello, director for maternal, children’s and adolescents’ health of the World Health Organization, that maternal and neonatal deaths were “underestimated” worldwide.
According to the WHO, 303,000 women die during pregnancy and childbirth while 2.7 million babies die during the first 28 days of their life and another 2.6 million babies are stillborn every year.
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| World Health Organization Manila Office WHO File Photo |
“The fact that neonatal deaths and still births are preventable with quality healthcare points to the urgency for government to establish maternal and child care facilities in every barangay in the country,” said the lawmaker.
“Social protection programs designed to improve access to affordable health care down to the barangay level and upgrade the skills of our labor force will attack poverty and make high growth felt by the overwhelming majority of Filipinos who are poor, he added.
The government must make sure that the country’s 42,035 barangays are empowered in preventing maternal and neonatal deaths as a means to provide social protection to the poor and most vulnerable families. (Source: Philippine Star)
