Morocco, UN sign agreement to reduce mother mortality in hospitals

Morocco and the UN Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) signed in Rabat on Wednesday an agreement to cooperate in reducing mothers mortality in hospitals.

The agreement includes a $ 2 million-worth project and will involve all Moroccan regions on the basis of a new approach that comprises resource assessment and emergency obstetrician care monitoring.

The project also supports cooperation between Moroccan 13 provinces and Japan by the creation of new maternity hospitals in rural areas and the extension of better care in case of delivery complications, which are responsible for mother and infant death.

Official figures show that while the rate of mother death has decreased, from 332 to 228 for each 100,000 newborns, the incidence is still alarming. Morocco's public health system only extends prenatal care to 42% of women between 1993 and 97, compared to 26% in 1987.