KUALA LUMPUR, May 17 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's success in the health sector, especially in maternal and child health, has been given recognition in this year's World Health Report.
Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek said Tuesday Malaysia's success in reducing maternal mortality was depicted in the report.
"I hope this is an inspiration to other developing countries to invest in maternal and child health," he told the World Health Assembly 2005 in Geneva. The text of his speech was made available here.
The minister did not provide details of the maternal mortality rate but, according to statistics compiled by the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry, the rate in Malaysia was 0.3 persons for every 1,000 population last year, down from the 0.6 persons per 1,000 population in 1980.
Dr Chua said the major driving force behind the success was the political commitment of the government that was translated into policies, services and resources.
Malaysia, he said, had always given priority to vulnerable and disadvantaged groups in the population. Thus, women of reproductive age and children have always been given the best care possible both at primary health care level and at hospitals and institutions, he added.
"In case it is assumed that Malaysia succeeded because of its comparative `wealth', I must make it known here that the financial allocations towards this have not been exorbitant but it is the prudent use of resources and knowing where to prioritize that have helped us," he said.
Dr Chua said the overall socio-economic development, including food supply, housing, education and income in the country, had also contributed to the success.
Poverty alleviation by the government had had a positive impact on health and maternal and child health, he said.
Other factors such as general health and health services in the country, including the development of facilities and manpower, also played important roles for the success.
In Malaysia, 89 per cent of the population now live within five km of a health facility and 98 per cent of deliveries are "safe deliveries".
Dr Chua said the efforts included specific initiatives such as emergency obstetric services, maternal as well as infant and child nutrition, a strong primary health care with a good reliable referral system to hospital, continuous quality improvement, neo-natal retrieval system, the high risk approach for pregnant mothers and a detailed auditing of every maternal death.
However, he said, Malaysia has to remain vigilant of the challenges ahead.
To further reduce the already low rates of maternal and child mortality was going to be difficult, he said.
"We have to be very specific and we are entering the difficult stage of preventing causes of death such as extreme prematurity and genetic disorders," he said.
Malaysia, he said, needed to do more to embrace the broader concept of sexual and reproductive health by going beyond mere biology and to encompass social determinants such as the influence of gender equality, the role of men in reproductive health and the issue of human rights.
Other challenges included achieving one of the Millennium Development Goals on the halting and reversing of HIV/Aids figures.
He said maternal and child health should not be compromised should Malaysia decide to have a major reform on health by introducing a new financing scheme or restructured health system.
-- BERNAMA
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