Problem:
Support for pregnant women as well as providing perinatal care, obstetrical care, and care for the new-born are one of the main challenges of the health sector in Tanzania. A 2019 study conducted at the delivery ward in Nyangao, Tanzania, which was conducted by Polish neonatologist Beata Niciak, showed that 89% of women who came to the hospital for childbirth had undiagnosed and untreated anaemia. As a result, Tanzanian new-borns very often have a very low birth weight, which results in immune problems and increases the likelihood of perinatal infections, which are often fatal to the baby. According to the World Health Organization, maternal deaths in Tanzania account for 18% of all deaths of women aged 15-49. Pregnant women are also at high risk of perinatal complications, as well as death in childbirth due to a lack of access to health centres or reaching the hospital too late. Of all women giving birth, only 46% of deliveries have a doctor or midwife present.
Organisation:
The Polish Medical Mission (PMM) is a non-governmental organisation whose goal is to save lives and alleviate suffering through health care, humanitarian and development aid. PMM runs health interventions and humanitarian programs that strengthen the potential of local communities. The beneficiaries of PMM are the inhabitants of the poorest regions of the world, victims of wars and natural disasters, refugees and communities at risk of social exclusion.
The Polish Medical Mission has been present in Tanzania since 2016, and since 2018 has been running projects at the St. Walburg's hospital in Nyangao, which are a continuation of projects from 2015, 2016, and 2017 carried out in this hospital under the Polish Aid programme coordinated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Project supported by KF:
The aim of the project we support is: to renovate the hospital space for pregnant women awaiting admission to the hospital, to equip the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) by purchasing small diagnostic equipment, and to renovate the clinics for pregnant women and children.
Additionally, we will contribute to the organisation of workshops for 45 local women leaders as well as for girls and women from villages in the Nyangao area. The training courses will be devoted to topics such as: protection of pregnant women, counteracting domestic violence and supporting women's social rights, preventing the exploitation of children and women, hygiene practice and COVID-19 prevention, menstrual hygiene, the hormone cycle and family planning.
In addition, we will support the production of reusable sanitary pads for women in their postpartum hospital stay at the St. Walburg's hospital in Nyangao.
Watch the film
