January 17, 2020
- A comprehensive ‘Emergency obstetric and newborn care’ (EmONC)
program will be implemented in healthcare facilities in underserved
communities in the Republic of the Congo
- The agreement is a tangible local milestone of the global
partnership between Philips and UNFPA aimed at improving the health
and well-being of fifty (50) million women and girls in countries
where health challenges are greatest, launched in 2019
Amsterdam, The Netherlands – Royal Philips
(NYSE: PHG; AEX: PHIA), a global leader in health technology, today
announced a major partnership with the Republic of the
Congo’s Ministry of Health & Population and the United Nations
Population Fund (UNFPA) to reduce maternal and newborn mortality
rates by fifty (50) percent in the country’s health facilities over
the next five years, especially in remote areas.
The three partners are working together to develop a large-scale
‘Emergency obstetric and newborn care’ (EmONC) program that will
reach more than 500,000 women and 70,000 newborns, improving access
to high quality and affordable maternal, neonatal and child
healthcare. The first phase of the program will target five
districts: Talangai, Ouesso-Mokeko-Pikounda-Kabo, Sembe-Souanke,
Zanaga-Bambama and Sibiti-Komono.
The main objective of the program is to manage high-risk
pregnancies and complications in healthcare facilities better by
training midwives, enabling timely prevention of - and intervention
during - complications related to pregnancy and childbirth.
As part of the program, health facilities in remote parts of the
Congo will be fitted with solar power systems and ultra-portable
ultrasound and monitoring devices so that midwives and doctors in
these district health centers can identify and manage high-risk
pregnancies onsite and provide emergency obstetric and newborn
care. Community health workers serving remote communities will be
equipped with backpack outreach kits containing key equipment to
assist in childbirth, together with a mobile phone they can use to
get remote technical support.
Despite falling by almost half between 2005 and 2015, maternal
mortality rates in the Republic of the Congo are still similar to
those of other less-developed countries. Women in the country’s
rural areas face ongoing difficulties, especially the indigenous
communities. Further investment in healthcare infrastructures,
services, technology and innovation are therefore needed to ensure
that maternal and newborn mortality rates continue to fall.
“The Government of the Republic of the Congo is committed to
accelerating progress towards reducing maternal and newborn
mortality,” said Jacqueline Lydia Mikolo, Minister of Health &
Population of the Republic of the Congo. “We are open to fostering
collaborations that are dynamic and mutually beneficial, and we
foresee great potential in this partnership with Philips and
UNFPA.”
“You cannot achieve prosperity without quality healthcare,
particularly for mothers and children, so we are excited to come on
board and contribute effectively to this partnership,” said Henk de
Jong, Chief of International Markets, Philips. “Philips is
passionate about maternal and child healthcare, because more than
in any other sector, we can make a direct and dramatic positive
impact on the quality of people’s lives.”
“This innovative partnership will help get us closer to
achieving our goal of zero maternal deaths in the Republic of the
Congo by improving the emergency obstetric and neonatal care that
people in rural and hard-to-reach communities receive,”
said Dr. Natalia Kanem, UNFPA Executive Director. “We are
committed to leaving no one behind and hope this model will inspire
others who share our goal of making pregnancy and childbirth safe
everywhere.”
The Ministry of Health and Population will pay the salaries of
the civil officials involved in the program. UNFPA will support the
health districts in strengthening the capacities of midwives to
provide EmONC services to increase the number of safe births and
Philips will provide the technological know-how for this
program.
During the second phase, the project will be rolled out to
another 47 health districts in semi-urbanized and rural areas,
including Pool, Likouala, Cuvette, Cuvette-Ouest, Plateaux,
Bouenza, Niari, Kouilou, Pointe Noire and the other district of
Brazzaville.
The partnership will help to transform healthcare in the
Republic of the Congo, ensuring that the quality of its services is
enhanced, its facilities meet World Health Organization (WHO)
standards, and its ability to reduce maternal and newborn mortality
is significantly improved. At the recent Nairobi Summit on ICPD25,
the government committed to ensuring that all pregnant women have
an antenatal consultation, and that all women deliver their babies
with a skilled birth attendant by 2022.
For further information, please contact:Radhika
Choksey Philips
Africa
Tel.:
+31 6 25 25
9000 E-mail:
radhika.choksey@philips.com
Joost MalthaPhilips Global Press OfficeTel.: +31 6 10 55
8116E-mail: Joost.Maltha@philips.com
Eddie WrightUNFPATel: +1 212 297 2717E-mail:
ewright@unfpa.org
M. Koua Oba JovialMSPPFIFD Tel: +242 06 895 69 64E-mail:
obajov@gmail.com
About Royal Philips
Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) is a leading health
technology company focused on improving people's health and
enabling better outcomes across the health continuum from healthy
living and prevention, to diagnosis, treatment and home care.
Philips leverages advanced technology and deep clinical and
consumer insights to deliver integrated solutions. Headquartered in
the Netherlands, the company is a leader in diagnostic imaging,
image-guided therapy, patient monitoring and health informatics, as
well as in consumer health and home care. Philips generated 2018
sales of EUR 18.1 billion and employs approximately 80,000
employees with sales and services in more than 100 countries. News
about Philips can be found at www.philips.com/newscenter.
About UNFPAUNFPA, the United Nations Population
Fund, is the lead UN agency for delivering a world where every
pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe, and every young person's
potential is fulfilled. UNFPA expands the possibilities for
women and young people to lead healthy and productive lives.
UNFPA is on the ground improving lives in about 150 countries that
are home to 80 per cent of the world’s population. Guided by the
Program of Action adopted at the 1994 International Conference on
Population and Development (ICPD), and the Sustainable Development
Goals, UNFPA partners with governments, civil society, private
sector, and others to advance our mission. More information about
UNFPA can be found at www.unfpa.org.
About the Ministry of Health and Population
(MoHP) Congo
The Ministry of Health and Population leads the program at
central and regional level and will also benefit from the close
support of the Ministries in charge of Planning and Finance, the
Prime Minister's Office and the Presidency. To ensure the health of
Congo’s 5,203,073 inhabitants with 1,040,616 woman of child
-bearing age, the MoHP’s National Health Development Plan 2018 -
2022 aims to increase accessibility and acceptability, meet the
major challenges (outdated infrastructure, lack of financial
resources in the health sector, qualified human resources,
precarious working conditions) and meet its commitments. More
information on the actions carried out and the needs of the
Ministry can be found at http://www.sante.gouv.cg.
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