UNICEF & foreign church contribute USD1.2 mn for maternal health in Pakistan

Islamabad: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and UNICEF announced a USD 1.2 million contribution to strengthen maternal and newborn health care in Pakistan, as part of a wider collaboration to improve access to quality, life-saving health services across four countries in South Asia.

In Pakistan, the two-year programme will reach 410,000 mothers and newborns, strengthening the continuum of care from pregnancy through childbirth and the newborn period. The programme aims to increase antenatal care coverage and institutional delivery rates by 50 per cent, while strengthening the quality and availability of essential maternal and newborn health services.

The collaboration is part of a wider regional initiative that will reach 1.5 million mothers and 1.5 million newborns across Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

More than 700 newborns die and around 500 babies are stillborn every day in Pakistan, while approximately two mothers die every hour from pregnancy-related complications. These deaths are compounded by malnutrition, gaps in referral systems, weak supply chains and unequal access to quality health services, particularly for poor and rural communities and adolescent mothers.

The programme will strengthen health systems by improving health infrastructure, ensuring the availability of essential medicines and supplies, strengthening referral mechanisms, and enhancing the quality of care for small and sick newborns. It will also build the capacity of frontline health workers to identify and effectively manage high-risk pregnancies and childbirth complications at both facility and community levels.