MBOMBELA – The Department of Health faces challenges in the infant mortality rate, but its turnaround strategy is working.
On Monday of last week health MEC, Mr Gillion Mashego said during a press briefing following the premier’s State of the Province Address that they looked at the overall implementation of the strategy and the department has turned a corner.
According to the DA, the Mpumalanga Health Department’s second quarterly report showed that the maternal and infant mortality rates in the province increased in 2015/16.
The maternal mortality rates increased from 77,5 deaths per 100 000 live births in the second quarter of the 2014/15 financial year to 135,3 per 100 000 in the second quarter of the 2015/16 financial year.
The infant mortality rate increased from 10,8 deaths per 1 000 live births to 13,6 per 1 000 in the same period.
According to the department’s second quarter report, it targeted a maternal mortality rate in facilities of 105 per 100 000.
The challenges health faced were stated as poor management of obstetric emergencies such as hypertension, haemorrhage and inadequate skills in anaesthetics.
The report stated that the department’s authority to fill critical vacant posts amid a moratorium on appointments placed elsewhere was temporarily withdrawn for it to settle accrued accounts from 2014/15.
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According to Ms Jane Sithole, the DA’s spokesman for health, this decision has had tragic results. “The decision… has led to tragic outcomes as the infant and maternal mortality rate in Mpumalanga has skyrocketed.”
“The Mpumalanga Health Department has for a long time been in a critical condition but the situation has become much worse since Gillion Mashego took over as MEC.
“It is clear that he does not have the people of Mpumalanga’s health interests at heart, because under his leadership, it is becoming increasingly difficult for our people to access health care.”
Mashego said they had made meaningful inroads in many areas, including in antenatal visits before a pregnancy reached 20 weeks.
Department spokesman Mr Dumisani Malamule said calculating the maternal mortality rate on a quarterly basis gave a skew figure.
“The department uses quarters as an internal measure to keep ourselves on top of the programme instead of waiting for the annual data to start acting on challenges.
“As a department we believe that a death of one woman is one death too many because we strive to ensure that no woman should die while bringing life into this world.”
He said non-pregnancy-related infections such as HIV and TB were the major contributors to these deaths, accounting for more than 70 per cent.
Malamule said the department conducted health-awareness campaigns, primary health-care facilities are encouraged to use a supermarket approach so no person is turned away except to better plan services and to reduce waiting times.
