International Conference on Newborn Care in Low-Resource Countries Hosted in Cambodia

By Sok Lak

The East Meets West Foundation (EMW) and ANT Italy in partnership with the Ministry of Health (MOH) with financial support from the Autonomous Province of Trento, Italy hosted a two-day “International Conference on Newborn Care in Low-Resource Countries” on November 17-18 in Phnom Penh.

The conference brings together stakeholders from around the world including government, NGOs, doctors, nurses and experts for an in-depth discussion of the challenges of and possible solutions for providing high-quality newborn health services in low-resource countries.

At the open ceremony, H.E. Yit Sunnara, Under Secretary of State of Ministry of Health, said that as with all countries, Cambodia is working hard to reach MDG4 of reducing the infant mortality by the year 2015. In 1998, the infant mortality rate was 95 per 1000 live births and now in 2011 the rate has decreased. These great improvements demonstrate large developments in the healthcare system.

According to a report of the World Health Organization, every year over 4 million people around the world die in the first 4 weeks of life. In Southeast Asia, the mortality rate is 28 per 1000.

“I hope that this conference helps us in Cambodia to reach our goal of 50/1000 by 2015 as well as give many other countries new and innovative ideas to continue to decrease their respective infant mortality rates.”

Dr. Koum Kanal, Director of the National Mother and Child Health Centre, said that Cambodia needs to have prepared institutions and the necessary human resources to provide quality health services for the population. Human resource development is outlined as one of the foundations for reaching the MDG targets and for sustainable development.

Nurses at a hospital in cambodia

In response to healthcare in Cambodia, the East West Foundation in partnership with ANT Italy implemented the Breath of Life program to support, strength and build capacity for better newborn care to all the levels of the healthcare system of Cambodia from the National level to the referral hospitals that serve the rural population. Since 2008, the Breath of Life program has provided equipment, training, capacity building and follow up to 13 hospitals in the country and has invested more than US$ 500,000 to support the newborn care sector in Cambodia.

Source: http://thesoutheastasiaweekly.com/?p=2614