The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a concessional loan of $100mn to support Uzbekistan in enhancing its perinatal health services for pregnant women and their newborns. This initiative aims to address the ongoing challenges in maternal and neonatal health within the country.
Uzbekistan has made notable progress in reducing maternal mortality, with the rate decreasing from 38 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2010 to 30 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2020. Despite this improvement, the ADB highlighted that the maternal mortality rate in Uzbekistan "remains high compared to the average for Europe and Central Asia."
The integrated perinatal care project, funded by the ADB loan, will focus on several key areas to improve the quality and accessibility of maternal and neonatal health services. One of the primary objectives is to modernize approximately 230 perinatal centers across Uzbekistan. These upgrades will include the installation of energy-efficient medical equipment, the adoption of updated clinical standards and protocols, and the enhancement of health staff capacity. Quality assurance mechanisms will also be put in place to ensure the delivery of high-quality care.
Additionally, the project aims to strengthen the perinatal referral system, ensuring that pregnant women and their newborns have access to appropriate and timely life-saving care. This will involve the fortification of emergency response teams and the introduction of electronic patient records to identify health risks and monitor pregnancies from an early stage.
Improving the skills and knowledge of healthcare professionals involved in perinatal care is another critical focus of the initiative. This includes training programs and the implementation of updated clinical practices to ensure that health workers are equipped to provide the best possible care to their patients. Quality assurance mechanisms will be introduced to monitor and evaluate the performance of perinatal centers, ensuring that the standards of care are consistently high and that any issues are promptly addressed.
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