SKOPJE, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Macedonia, in cooperation with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), plans to introduce measures to cut newborn and maternal mortality in the country, Macedonia's Health Minister Venko Filipce said at a press conference on Sunday.
While presenting the new package of measures, the minister told reporters that Macedonian government strongly believed that such measures would improve the overall care of mothers and their babies in hospital.
The measures, with short-term up to 3 months and long-term up to 6 months, include guidelines for monitoring the risks during pregnancy and clinical guidelines for the management emergencies during both pregnancy and childbirth.
"These complications are the main causes of maternal deaths, and in Macedonia there are no clinical guidelines that should be applied in such life-threatening situations," Filipce said.
Further, the minister said that the measures also include preparation of a methodology that would detect the real causes of mortality and serious newborn and maternal complications according to World Health Organization (WHO) standards.
"In the first three months, trainers will also be trained for the efficient care of just born babies. And mobile gynecological and obstetric services for vulnerable categories of citizens will be introduced while vaccination and screening for cervical cancer will be carried out regularly," Filipce said.
He also said that in the next six months, due to the lack of pediatricians in neonatology and pediatric departments, Macedonia would hire doctors who either ended up with their specialization or had already specialized in these areas.
Infant mortality rate in Macedonia is about 11 deaths per 1,000 births, while neonatal mortality rate is 8, according to UNICEF data on Macedonia.
