By Fatou Saho
Government and other stakeholders have revealed a decrease in maternal deaths in The Gambia.
This insight was shared at a town hall meeting of the UNFPA and the Gambia Government hosted at the Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara International Conference Centre on Wednesday.
The executive director of the National Population Commission, Mariama Fanneh, revealed that maternal deaths have decreased in the Gambia from 433 to 289 per 100, 000 live births.
She went on: “From 2013, 2019, 2020, maternal mortality reduced from 433 per every 100, 000 live births to 289”.
However, Fanneh stated that there are regional disparities when it comes to the total fatality rate and adolescent pregnancy in the rural Gambia.
The country representative of the UNFPA, Ndey Rose Sarr, noted that with continuous hard work, maternal deaths can decrease to 70 or at least 113 per 100, 000 live births.
Since the urban areas marked most of the positive indicators in the info graphics presented, Lamin Camara, the deputy country coordinator of the UNFPA, said their targeted areas are CRR, NBR, WCR and LRR.
“We hope to improve midwifery and facilities offering comprehensive sexual and reproductive health including family planning, adolescent health and HIV prevention and also enhance national capacity to promote and conduct maternal and pre natal deaths surveillance and response mechanisms at community level,” Camara said.
