ARUSHA Region has recorded a 28 percent decline in maternal and child mortality for the 2023/2024 financial year, thanks to the effective implementation of M-mama programme.

The number of deaths fell from 67 to 48, a reduction attributed to the programme which provides emergency transportation and referral services for pregnant women and children who are in dire conditions.

Dr Edna Chonge, acting Arusha Regional Medical Officer, unveiled this yesterday during the annual working meeting to evaluate the implementation of the M-mama programme in the region.

She noted that, in just over a year since its launch, the programme made notable progress in reducing mortality rates among pregnant women and children. 

Dr Chonge highlighted that the programme, launched on December 19, 2022, and operational since March 2023, has made significant progress in reducing mortality rates among pregnant women and children.

“Through the M-mama programme, we have successfully referred 4,189 pregnant women, representing 82 percent of total cases, and 808 infants, accounting for 18 percent. In total, we processed 4,997 referrals, or 92 percent,” she said.

She said that the purpose of the annual meeting was to evaluate the system’s implementation, address any challenges, and develop actionable solutions. The goal is to create a strategic plan to sustainably tackle any issues and further reduce or eliminate preventable deaths.

Presenting revenue and expenditure estimates for the Ministry of Health for the 2024/25 fiscal year in the National Assembly recently, the then Health Minister Ummy Mwalimu said that the government had significantly improved the health sector in the country.

She listed the “achievements” as the expansion and improvement of health infrastructure, whereby the numbers of health service delivery facilities increased from 8,549 in 2021 to 9,693 this year which is an increase of 1,144 facilities.

For the modern medical equipment, the minister said there has been an increase in diagnostic and disease detection equipment, including MRI machines from 7 to 13, CT scanners from 12 to 45, Digital X-ray machines from 147 to 346, Ultrasound machines from 476 to 668, Echocardiograms from 95 to 102, Cath labs from one to four, and the introduction of PET Scan which was previously unavailable in the country.

The minister said for increased bed capacity, the number of general hospital beds has gone up from 86,131 in 2021 to 145,374, the number of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds in public facilities increased from 258 in 2021 to 1,362 and for the improved availability of medicine, the availability of medicines and health products (290 types) in public health facilities h increased from 58 percent to 79 percent by March this year.

For emergency medical services, the minister said the number of hospitals providing emergency medical services increased from seven in 2020 to 116 by March this year and for specialised services, she said the availability of affordable specialised and advanced medical services in the country increased, attracting international patients for medical tourism and the number of international patients rose from 5,705 in 2022 to 7,843 this year.

The minister said that the number of health facilities capable of providing emergency obstetric care, including cesarean section, increased from 388 in 2021 to 523 this year.