Coastal Bangladesh: ‘Human Appeal’ helps reduce child and maternal mortality by half

Human Appeal, a humanitarian aid charity based in Greater Manchester, is celebrating the end of a two-year maternal and child health project that the organization conducted in Satkhira, a coastal area of Bangladesh. The project helped to  reduce  infant and child mortality by 50 per cent.

The Satkhira Sadar coastal region is particularly prone to natural disasters, with poor access to clean drinking water and high food insecurity. It is also an area below the national average for literacy rate and income, with poor access to health facilities and health professionals.

Child mortality and deaths in childbirth in Satkhira is disastrously high. More than 60 per cent of the mothers in the district give birth to low weight babies – which is a baby that weighs less than 5 pounds 8 ounces.

“Prior to this project, per 1000 births, 54 per cent of the children were dying during childbirth and 3.5 per cent of the mothers were dying,” says Human Appeal CEO, Othman Moqbel.
The project aimed at helping pregnant women with support and health facilities by trained professionals on an individual level, and to change the culture and behavior of the area so that women seek help from health professionals.

Ultimately, changing behavior creates an impact that will stay long-term, and hopefully this will spread throughout Bangladesh, they say.

Know more: http://aboutmanchester.co.uk/latest/manchester-charity-halve-child-maternal-deaths-in-coastal-bangladesh/

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