AMREF's Commitment to Better Maternal Health in Africa
More than 200,000 women die each year in sub-Saharan Africa during pregnancy and childbirth due to a lack of basic medical care. And, for every woman who dies, another 20 to 30 are left with debilitating diseases. Most of these deaths and disabilities could easily be prevented if women had access to basic medical care. Health workers, in particular, are desperately needed.
We have been working with African communities for more than 50 years, creating lasting health changes. In our work, we champion women, who are at the heart of their families’ and communities’ health, and children because we believe that by focusing on these two vulnerable groups, we can improve the lives and health of families and communities.
AMREF is pleased to announce that we will expand our maternal and child health program in 20 countries in Africa to reach an additional 500,000 women of reproductive age and 1.5 million children.
Over the next 5 years, we will train 3,000 new midwives and retrain 5,000 midwives to upgrade their skills in saving the lives of mothers and newborns. We will also train up to 10,000 community health workers to help provide care to mothers and children at home, and link effectively with health facilities when needed. This new commitment also includes considerable expansion of service delivery to increase the access of disadvantaged communities to medical care.
In partnership with our donors and sponsors, our objective is to make pregnancy and childbirth safer in Africa and to help prevent the needless deaths of women and children.
