Gaps in newborns' care threatens health targets

CHILD BIRTH AND CARE

KAMPALA - A healthy, young and productive population form one of the great pillars of the Vision 2040 intended at giving the country a milestone to a modern and prosperous economy.  

Medics are concerned as neonatal mortality continued to take toll on the newborns despite government and partners driven efforts to arrest the situation.

Mainly caused by infections, birth asphyxia, prematurity or being born too soon, neonatal allegedly contribute up to 45% of the overall deaths among children less than five years of age.

A study by the Uganda Paediatric Association (UPA) in collaboration with Jinja hospital, and Centre for Health Research and Programmes indicated that approximately one out of 10 babies admitted died.

At a consultative meeting UPA, with other partners at Protea Hotel in Kampala , it was agreed that a gap in collecting significant information necessary in understanding the burden of newborn morbidity and mortality still existed and needed to be addressed.

Dr. Harriet Nambuya, a consultant pediatrician with UPA revealed that for the last two years, they have implemented a neonatal disease surveillance strategy at Jinja referral hospital.

She explained that a standardised Neonatal Medical Record Form (NMRF) was developed by the project to fully get information that can aid treatment of newborns.

Urging the partners, such as the ministry of health to develop it into a tool used in all government health facilities, Nambuya said the tool was comprehensive.

It provided space to access prevention and health priority initiatives such as breastfeeding immunisation and prevention of mother to child transmission.

The current neonatal mortality is estimated to be 23 per 1000 live births. This is an improvement from 29 per 1000 live births 10 years ago.

The project extended orientation of more health workers on the form in the health centers IV of Bugembe and Budondo.

According to Dr. Nambuya, the baseline survey that was carried out to establish the status of newborn health provision services at both health centres discovered  numerous gaps, which, among them was lack of proper records.

“We found no clear records on newborns, supplies, medicine, among others but all of that changed with the project intervention. This was so because child health had not been taken as a priority,” she said.

After significant improvements recorded by the project, it has since expanded to mid-western Uganda at Hoima hospital to access its performance in very different circumstances.

The commissioner for child health in the health ministry, Dr. Jessica Nsungwa, admitted that Uganda was not yet to do well in child health.

“There is still a lot of work and we must approach it all together through doing more networks and joint research,” she said.

She disclosed that government was undertaking efforts such as the introduction of newborn fellowships, establishing skills labs and other necessary infrastructure projects related to the promotion of child health.

Nsungwa added that government has secured a loan worth $10m and that the ministry was partnering with NIRA to coordinate proper data on newborns and that it had secured another funding of $9m to support research on effective prevention and treatment of newborns.