an ongoing partnership…
THE Ministry of Health and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), on Thursday, inaugurated a maternal health thematic fund (MHTF) work plan that will see Guyana receiving US$400,000 for the remainder of 2009. The agreement was signed in the Regional Health Services Department of the Ministry in Brickdam, Georgetown, where Mr. Harold Robinson, Director of UNFPA Sub-Regional Office for the Caribbean and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Mr. Hydar Ally affixed their signatures.

Ally expressed the Ministry’s appreciation for the UNFPA support in an area that it is much needed and assured of the optimal use of the newly acquired resources.

The MHTF is part of the ongoing partnership between the Ministry and UNFPA that seeks to reduce maternal mortality as well as improve maternal and neo-natal health in Guyana.

Robinson said the MHTF is expected to assist this country for between three and five years, depending on the continuous availability of funds.

However, the funding presently available will bolster a number of areas in maternal and child health which includes:

* facilitating the conduct of an emergency obstetric and neo-natal care assessment of health facilities across Guyana, which will provide useful information on their capacity to provide basic and comprehensive care;

* procurement and provision of equipment and supplies to strengthen obstetric and neo-natal care at health facilities;

* promoting early ante-natal care and strengthening family planning services;

* capacity building and training of doctors, midwives and other care givers in obstetrics and neo-natal care, and

* support for the prevention and reduction of adolescent pregnancy.

Robinson remarked on the significance of UNFPA being in Guyana to give assistance that marks another step in an evolving partnership with the ministry.

Agreeing with him, Ms. Patrice La Fleur, Assistant UNFPA Representative in the Sub-Regional Office for the Caribbean/Guyana, said it allows the Ministry to enhance its capability and scale up the delivery of health care services.

She said the UNFPA aid is in keeping with its mandate to help countries facilitate the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), in this case the fifth one, which deals with maternal health.

MDG five aims to reduce, by three quarters, the maternal mortality ratio and achieve, by 2015, universal access to reproductive health care.

Towards this objective, UNFPA also handed over a quantity of condoms to the Ministry, 78,000 of the female type and 482,000 of the male kind, to be distributed by the National Aids Programme Secretariat (NAPS) and all maternal and child health centres across Guyana.

UNFPA also donated three computer systems to boost management and monitoring by the Ministry, all in addition to the financial and technical aid the agency has provided over the past years.