Health officials in the Arua district of the West Nile Region have announced a positive trend in the survival rates of preterm infants.
Emmanuel Odar, a Senior Consultant Gynecologist at Arua Referral Hospital, revealed that for the past two quarters, the survival rate for these vulnerable babies has reached an impressive 90%.
“We think we can do better, because our target was 95, so those who are born tired need respiration support. Those ones, sometimes suffer brain injury, and the outcome can be so severe, so their survival keeps declining. The best survival for those is prevention, and that is an area we continue to encourage, that to improve our care, that mothers come to our facilities in time and access optimum care,” he said.
Odar shared the positives during a media visit organized by the United Nation Children Fund (UNICEF) , AVSI Foundation and the Swedish Government focused on child survival and development efforts in the West Nile region.
He stressed that they have been able to receive valuable support in various areas, including equipment, training, and nutritional commodities.
“Our nutritionist emphasizes that we are prioritizing prevention. Additionally, we are actively engaging in the community’s Maternal, Infant, Young Child, and Adolescent Nutrition Initiative through care groups, and we are making significant progress. As a result, you will notice a decline in the admission rates for severe acute malnutrition,” he noted.
He highlighted that this progress has been made possible through the support received by Arua Regional Referral Hospital from UNICEF and the Swedish government, both in terms of resources and the positive impact on the health of the local population.
He explained that, in the past, the hospital faced limitations in capacity, often necessitating the referral of mothers who required cesarean deliveries.
However, with the enhancements in equipment, training, and renovations, he believes the trend of referrals is decreasing, and is optimistic that the decline will continue.
He said the hospital will be better positioned to provide specialized care to the community.
He noted that some of the deliveries happen outside their facility, with about about 1, 920 cases handled elsewhere.
However, Odar noted that they are witnessing a rise in deliveries within their institutions.
“We pray that this continues to grow. Every mother should be delivered under the services of a skilled healthcare worker, and our target is to reach 100%,’’ he added.
He highlighted a slight decrease in maternal mortality rates, attributing this improvement to an increase in surgical procedures, with around 200 operations performed monthly.
He also mentioned that the establishment of a neonatal department has played a crucial role in saving the lives of premature infants.
Standing challenges
However, Odar expressed concern that progress is not as rapid as needed, primarily due to community delays in making timely decisions to transport laboring mothers to healthcare facilities.
He pointed out that inadequate transportation, teenage pregnancies, and late referrals are significant barriers to achieving a quicker reduction in maternal mortality in the area.
Christine Nabwire, the regional nutritionist at Arua Regional Referral Hospital, which serves eight districts, noted that the hospital caters for children from various locations and provides essential nutrition services.
She emphasized that the hospital has a dedicated nutrition ward to care for patients suffering from severe acute malnutrition complications.
‘’In the outpatient therapeutic care, we are giving Feed 75 and Feed 100, and all these therapeutic feed comes as a donation from UNICEF. UNICEF is also supporting us in system strengthening where we are training other health workers, it also helps us with mentorship to ensure these malnourished acute children are treated well. It has also helped to implement the Ministry of health community strategy which is Maternal, Infant, young, child and adolescent nutrition,” she noted.
She mentioned that this nutrition unit receives vital support from UNICEF, which provides all the therapeutic feeds utilized.
The assistance extends beyond just food; they have also contributed to the establishment of community structures.
With support from UNICEF, they have also implemented the Maternal, Infant, Young Child, and Adolescent Nutrition (MIYCA) program, where care group volunteers engage with households to educate them on nutrition, hygiene, and other essential WASH practices.
Currently, they have been able to mobilize 68 MIYCA groups. The volunteers and Village Health Teams (VHTs) in the villages play a crucial role in referring mothers and assessing pregnant women, adolescents, and young children.
Nabwire said they are observing a significant increase in connections, evident in the crowded ward, as the MIYCA groups facilitate the identification of malnourished children in their homes.
She said when the teams find a child who is severely malnourished, they ensure that such children are referred to the facility for further assistance.
Mystica Acheng, Chief of UNICEF Arua Field Office, ,said they want to honor the remarkable contributions of UNICEF in the West Nile region, made possible through the generous support of the Embassy of Sweden.
“All that we are going to talk about today, it’s coming because of the generous support from the Embassy of Sweden. As UNICEF, we work really to advocate and protect the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children by supporting the government to address the issues of inequalities in health outcomes, working directly with the district local governments that have got the law coverage to tackle all issues of equity by supporting the district’s health system strengthening,’’ she added.
She emphasized that, since September 2017, a comprehensive package addressing all aspects of intervention for women and children in West Nile has been supported with funding from Sweden.
“The general health as UNICEF, we use the life cycle approach, right from the neonatal health, a comprehensive package of support to ensure that the health of children, the newborn care and support the component of child health, adolescent health, maternal health, not forgetting the issues of HIV and AIDS, the struggle to eliminate the spread of HIV and AIDS in the region,’ she added.
She stated that recent statistics indicate a rise in infections, which is becoming increasingly severe with the adolescents being the most affected.
Acheng noted that with the support of SIDA, several interventions have been implemented, including enhancing the capacity of district leaders in management, evidence-based prioritization, and program monitoring and evaluation.
‘’We have had some health workers that were deployed in some of the districts, and we are happy to note that with the good gesture by the ministry, by the Embassy of Sweden, some of the health workers that were deployed in the government health facilities, we are happy to note that some of them are being taken up by the government, and they have been integrated in the government system, and facilitated by the government,” she noted.
She also emphasized that the growing demand and involvement of communities is a crucial element that has received support.
“We also know when we are talking about health, especially primary health care, the importance of community engagement is very key. We have been able to support this through the rolling out of the key family care practices, working with the different community structures, the government structures at different levels, not forgetting at the village level, the VHDs have been core in ensuring that all this support is a success,” she noted.
