THE Department of Health (DOH) in Cordillera is positive that it will achieve the United Nation's (UN) goal of reducing child mortality, a millennium development goal of the UN, before the 2015 deadline.
DOH Assistant Regional Director Amelita Pangilinan revealed they are on track and even ahead on the goal to reduce child mortality in the region.
She said they had been implementing different measures for the attainment of this goal. She added DOH continues to provide facilities and equipment for pregnant mothers and newly born babies.
In an earlier interview, Pangilinan said there is high probability they can attain the MDG 4 because of fewer deaths among children.
On the Philippine context as per the data from the Technical Working Group on Maternal and Child Mortality, under-five mortality rate (U5MR) was 80 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1990. This rate declined to 48 in 1998 and to 42 in 2003.
In 2006, using results of the Family Planning Survey (FPS) of the National Statistics Office, the rate fell down further to 32 deaths per 1,000 live births. For the period 1990-2006, the decline was about 60 percent. This suggests a high likelihood of meeting the target of 26.7 deaths per 1,000 live births by 2015 not only here in Cordilleras but also the whole country.
Under-five mortality levels in the Philippines continue to improve, from 64 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1993, it went down to 40 deaths in 2003.
However, the assistant regional director of DOH–CAR admitted they still need to improve more on the attainment of the MDG 5 especially on maternal health because of the continuous cases of maternal deaths among Cordillerans.
She explained they still have cases of maternal deaths because of the pregnant moms who prefer to give birth at home. Pangilinan said once a pregnant woman prefers giving birth at home, there are several complications which she will face like bleeding.
She added most of the attendants in home deliveries are not knowledgeable on the dos and don’ts in assisting.