International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics

Tanzania has made great strides improving its maternal and newborn health provision, but more work still needs to be done.

The Tujikomboe Group Founder and Organization Advisor Shamsi Mhina said that the fall in child mortality which now stands at 26 infants per 1,000 was good progress towards achieving Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 4, reports Tanzania Daily News.

But in order to achieve this target, worldwide child mortality needs to drop by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015, meaning Tanzania needs to reduce its own rate to 15 newborn deaths per 1,000.

Mr Mhina called for more government funding to address the child mortality problem.

"The health expenditure per capita as per the World Health Organization standard is supposed to stand at 40 per cent while Tanzania actually provides less than 16 per cent," he stated.

Mr Mhina also wanted the country to address the number of females dying during childbirth, adding that the Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey reveals that pregnancy-related complications kill one woman every hour in the country.

Posted by Alexandra George