HAI’s Timor-Leste Country Director quoted on maternal health partnership with Ministry of Health
An article posted on IRIN Asia talks about the challenges facing maternal and child health efforts in Timor-Leste, and how the Ministry of Health is responding.
Our Country Director in Timor-Leste, Dominique Freire, is quoted on the health promotion films we helped to develop in partnership with the Ministry:
"At the same time, the Ministry of Health is working with NGOs around the country to disseminate information about the importance of maternal health.
"One is Health Alliance International (HAI), which has produced two films, one focusing on the benefits of consulting midwives for pre-natal care, deliveries and post-natal services, and another focusing on family planning.
"The videos form the basis of educational programmes presented to rural communities in six districts. Between 2003 and 2008, use of skilled birth attendants increased about 15 percent in those districts, while the number of women making at least one ante-natal care visit increased more than 30 percent.
"Dominique Freire, HAI country director, said: 'With vulnerable populations in rural areas, you have to come up with creative ways of reaching them, especially as the literacy rate is so low [about 50 percent, according to the UN Development Programme]. We used our staff and local people as actors so the communities can connect with what they see in the videos.'"
Read the full article here.
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