Filipino official calls for more action on maternal and child mortality

An official in the Philippines has said more needs to be done to boost maternal and newborn health outcomes in the country.

According to Maria Concepcion T Aslor of the Naga College Foundation, about 4,000 mothers and nearly 3,400 newborn babies die in the nation every year, the Philippine Information Agency reports.

This, she said, means "we have to work hard [to] lower the number of statistics".

Ms Aslor stated that improving the level of training for healthcare professionals could be a particularly helpful move.

Naga College Foundation is already engaged in a training programme for doctors, nurses and midwives, in collaboration with Bicol Medical Centre and the Filipino health department.

Ms Aslor noted that on an annual basis, about 500,000 women die as a result of complications with their pregnancy and delivery across the globe.

She added that issues such as infection, asphyxia and premature birth lead to four million babies aged up to 28 days dying every year.