Stop Mothers Dying !

Stop mothers dying.jpg“Women are not dying because of diseases we cannot treat. They are dying because societies have yet to make the decision that their lives are worth saving”
…..Mahmoud Fathalla , Past President, FIGO

Why Mothers Die? A silent tragedy
Are you moved by the dreadful statistics of 3 women and 20 babies dying at childbirth every 5 minutes? These occur mostly in low resource countries in Africa and South East Asia.
The tragedy is that almost 99 per cent are preventable.
A woman’s life time risk of dying at childbirth is 1 in 6900 in the United Kingdom. 1 in 190 in India and 1 in 31 in Nigeria.
The death of a mother has the most devastating consequences for the family and the community.
Do you wish to take effective action through Rotary service and be a gift to the world? If yes, please read on……..

RFPD as a resource

Then, please turn to the Rotarian Action Group on Population Development (RFPD)– your one stop shop for Maternal and Child Health (MCH) area of focus.
We are the Rotary resource for Maternal and Child Health area of Focus. RFPD works on capacity building of trained health care professionals, Vocational Training Teams and community outreach groups.
Our Vocational Training Teams use modern methods of skill transfer and training the trainer model, in achieving outstanding results.
What can we do to help?
We will work together with you to
1. Provide guidance and technical support in identifying community needs ,if required
2. Share best practices, training, equipment and educational materials relevant to your programme
3. Formulate appropriate project proposals, with advice and technical support
4. Assist in application for funding (other than District Grants and Club funding) for eligible programmes, if circumstances permit.
5. Secure support from Government and appropriate professional organisations
6. Promote and strengthen your Vocational Training Teams through professional and logistic support
7. Support Community outreach at the village level in pre- post -natal care, childbirth awareness, child care including immunisation, reproductive and sexual health and satisfying unmet needs of family planning.
What can you do to help?
If you are a member of RFPD, please assist and contribute through your vocational expertise or advocacy support in saving mothers and babies – your support counts a lot.
If you are not a member, please join us. We have established successful ongoing programmes in maternal and child health in many countries in need. We have a framework for scaling up of our existing programmes and supporting new programmes in MCH care.
Please join us and Stop Mothers Dying!

PDG Dr. Himansu Basu , MD, PhD
Medical Director, RFPD
TRF Cadre Coordinator on Maternal and Child Health