It has been reported that South Africans still face challenges when accessing antenatal care visits and skilled birth attendants, Health Minister Joe Phaahla said in his opening speech to about 1 800 stakeholders worldwide at the First International Maternal Newborn Health Conference.
News24 reports that the three-day conference will see stakeholders developing solutions to improve maternal and newborn survival and prevent stillbirths in a co-ordinated and inclusive manner.
"South Africa has reached 80% coverage for post-natal care and 80% access to management of small and sick neonates. The remaining challenge is access to antenatal care visits, which is at 76% against the 90% target, and access to skilled birth attendants, which is at 78.3%," Phaahla said.
He said another challenge the department faced was the high teenage pregnancy rate, even among younger girls.
"Despite the challenges faced, there is a bright light at the end of the dark tunnel. Through integrating HIV care into routine maternal and newborn care, vertical transmission of HIV infection has been reduced from 30% in 2002 to less than 3% in 2022. Under-five mortality has declined from a high of 81 per 1 000 live births in 2003 to 28 per 1 000 live births in 2020.
He added that the decline was attributed to a reduction in deaths due to HIV/Aids.
"The other contributors to the success are the introduction of new childhood vaccines and improvement programmes addressing social determinants of health such as social grants to children and vulnerable women."
Phaahla said the department continued to battle severe problems of prematurity and intrapartum-related trauma, which remained the leading cause of death.
"Hypertension and obstetric haemorrhage remain the challenges contributing to maternal deaths. Infection from tuberculosis and HIV, the re-emergence of previously eradicated conditions, play a part in both maternal and neonatal deaths," he said.
He said the department had also realised that increasing congenital abnormalities which had become contributing factors required more robust interventions.
Phaahla said a ministerial committee had been established to focus on monitoring maternal, perinatal and child deaths. He said the committee was also expected to make recommendations for how the deaths could be prevented.
News24 – SA – experiencing-increased-congenital-abnormalities-in-newborns-says-phaahla-20230510
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