Cambodia: High maternal mortality rate blamed on lack of outreach

20 August 2009

Efforts to reduce the number of women in Cambodia who die during childbirth have been dogged by a lack of outreach on the part of public health officials as well as rural villagers' preference for traditional midwives, say parliamentarians. "The rate in Cambodia is still higher than in other countries in the region because more women in remote areas don't have the information or skills to take care of themselves during pregnancy and right after childbirth," said CPP lawmaker Ho Naun, who chairs the National Assembly's public health committee and was one of three MPs who attended a regional conference on the issue in Bali, Indonesia, last week.

Along with Min Sean and Krouch Sam An, Ho Naun worked to devise a new national action plan for addressing maternal mortality. The MPs declined to elaborate on what the strategy entailed, saying they were scheduled to meet with UN Population Fund officials on Friday to formalise it.

The issue of maternal mortality has long confounded health officials and development partners. The 2005 Cambodia Demographic and Health Survey (CDHS), the source of the most recent reliable maternal health data, reported a nationwide rate of 472 deaths per 100,000 live births - the third-highest rate in the region behind Laos and East Timor.

Read the full article in the Phnom Penh Post.