MSF celebrates 5th anniversary

PESHAWAR: Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) or Doctors Without Borders on Wednesday celebrated the fifth anniversary of the establishment of a hospital dedicated to treating women living in rural areas in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas  and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The hospital was established in 2011.  Around 85 patients are admitted to it every week. Around 4,700 babies are born at the hospital per annum. “It works in partnership with the Basic Health Units (BHUs) as well as the hospitals in Peshawar district. The MSF teams in two hospitals in Kurram Agency offer free healthcare to women with high risk pregnancies said a press release.

Catherine Moody, Country Representative for MSF in Pakistan said they provided care to those women who experienced serious complications during pregnancy that can compromise their health and that of their babies.  She said that a medical referral network had been set up among the health centres, rural communities, and displacement camps to ensure improved access to healthcare.

Catherine Moody said the facility was also serving as a referral structure for the patients MSF medical teams treated in Kurram Agency in the hospitals of Sadda and Alizai. She said that improving healthcare for mothers, babies and young children was one of the priorities for MSF.

She said the Peshawar Women’s Hospital aimed at reducing maternal and infant mortality rates in Pakistan. Pakistan is amongst the countries with the highest rates of maternal and infant mortality, with a maternal mortality rate of 170 per 100,000 live births and the under-five child mortality rate of around 86 deaths per 1,000 live births.

Women are still dying from preventable complications during pregnancy and less than one-in-three deliveries are supported by trained birth attendants.The hospital also offers free healthcare for premature babies or suffering from several pathologies at birth in its 15-bed neonatology unit (NBU).