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Friday March 29, 2024

Balochistan MNCH Strategy beset with funding shortfall of $135 million

By Shahina Maqbool
September 30, 2016

Islamabad

With a total budgetary requirement of $347 million, the Balochistan Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) Strategy 2016-20 is beset with a financial shortfall of US $135 million, which urgently needs to be bridged to improve the state of newborn health in a province that is conspicuous for the highest under-five mortality rate (785 per 100,000 live births) in Pakistan.

In order to mobilize donor support for implementation of the five-year Balochistan MNCH strategy, which has been developed by the Department of Health, Balochistan, with the support of Mercy Corps, a donor conference was organized here Thursday, with the participation of high-ranking government officials, and representatives of donor organizations, UN agencies, NGOs and INGOs.

Of the US $347 million required for implementation of the strategy, $212 million has been covered through PC-1 and other resources, while an amount of $135 million remains unfunded. The conference served as platform for dissemination of the salient features of the strategy on the one hand, and mobilization of resources to fund implementation of the strategy, on the other.

Addressing the conference, Federal Secretary Health Ayub Shaikh congratulated Balochistan’s Department of Health and Mercy Corps for the initiative and USAID for providing financial resources. He emphasized the importance of developing partnerships and finding scalable and sustainable solutions.

Pakistan ranks third in the world in terms of the highest number of first-day maternal and neonatal deaths and has a maternal mortality ratio (MMR) of 276 per 100,000 live births. 60 per cent of all under-5 deaths in the country take place within the first 28 days, the participants were told.

Dr. Mohammad Ishaq Baloch, policy coordinator of the Chief Minister’s Policy Reform Unit, Balochistan, stressed the importance of saving the lives of mothers and children and to reduce morbidity by ensuring the provision of accessible, affordable and quality maternal, neonatal and child health services at all levels.

Dr. Chakar Riaz Baloch, deputy provincial coordinator of the MNCH Programme, Balochistan, presenting an overview of the MNCH situation in the province. He shared that over 80 per cent of all births in Balochistan are attended by a traditional birth attendant or a relative, which means that less than 20 per cent of the births are attended by skilled birth attendants such as doctors, lady health visitors (LHVs), or community midwives (CMWs). He added that MNCH Programme, which is working since 2006, has made significant contributions in terms of appointment of LHVs, training and deployment of CMWs, procurement of ambulances for improved referrals, and provision of trainings to service providers on various MNCH topics.

Shah Jahan Achakzai, chief of health, Planning and Development, Balochistan, shared Balochistan’s MNCH situation in the light of targets enshrined in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Dr. Masood Qadir Nousherwani, director general health services, Balochistan, presented the salient features of the Balochistan MNCH Strategy, which focuses on five key components. These include strengthening the technical capacity for Basic Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (BEmONC) and Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (CEmONC) services, development of human resources for health, building and strengthening of infrastructure for delivery of facility-based MNCH services, strengthening integrated delivery of nutrition, EPI and family planning services at the facility level, expansion of community midwifery services, building linkages between facility-based and community-based service delivery, introducing innovative schemes to reach the poorest of the poor, strengthening MNCH management information system, improving monitoring and supervision mechanisms, generating evidence for improved interventions, and improving inter-sectoral coordination, among others.

While sharing the implementation plan of the strategy Dr. Masood urged all donors to consider funding various components, strategic areas and activities of the strategy. Shahryar Taj, secretary, Planning and Development, Balochistan, also urged all partners to come forward in support of the strategy as part of a unified vision to improve maternal, newborn and child health in Balochistan. Dr. Kaleemullah Kakar, mayor of Metropolitan Corporation Quetta, also emphasized the importance of working together to achieve targets of the MNCH strategy in an effective manner.

Mir Rehmat Saleh Baloch, minister for health, Balochistan, urged donors and international organizations to extend their support to enable the government of Balochistan to achieve the SDGs and most importantly to reduce MMR and IMR. In the end, Dr. Tahira Kamal from the Department of Community Medicine, Bolan Medical College Quetta, thanked all participants for their contribution and Mercy Corps for facilitating the event.