New Partnership Aims to Improve Quality of Care for Mothers and Newborns in Seven Districts across Ethiopia
An exciting new agreement has been signed with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), who have a vision for a world where everyone has the best care and health possible. The agreement will see Laerdal Global Health support IHI Ethiopia to improve lifesaving training and training facilities, impacting health personnel who care for mothers and newborns on the day of birth at 44 health centres, across seven districts.
Ethiopian context
Whilst significant progress has been made since 2000 in reducing maternal mortality in Ethiopia, the country still struggles with the issue. According to The World Bank data in 2020 there remained 267 maternal deaths per 100,000 births. This is significantly higher than the Sustainable Development Goal 3 target of 70 per 100,000 births. Reductions in neonatal mortality have also progressed in the past decades but remain at 26 per a 1000 live births, which is higher than the target set out in SDG 3.
Partnership
The collaboration between Laerdal Global Health and IHI Ethiopia will be part of the Strengthening Health Systems and Network of Care project, which is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The project - which focusses on creating functional networks of care through public and private hospitals, health centres, health posts and in the community - aims to provide high quality, patient-centred maternal and newborn health care.
We know most causes of maternal and neonatal mortality are preventable. Well trained, confident and competent health care personnel can make the difference between life and death. That is why we are delighted to be supporting IHI to build the capacity of hospitals who will serve as centres of excellence and skills training hubs for those working in their catchment areas. We are also pleased to be equipping these hubs with birthing and neonatal training simulators like MamaBirthie and NeoNatalie Live.
Abiyou Kiflie, IHI Country Director for Ethiopia, adds:
“For over 30 years, IHI has been using improvement science to advance better outcomes in health and health systems across the world. We are passionate about catalyzing learning and driving systematic improvements to care. In particular we have worked closely with the Ethiopian Ministry of Health since 2013 to drive progress, including in improving the quality of maternal and newborn care. We see the partnership with Laerdal Global Health as an important next step in catalyzing systemic change and driving better quality care thanks to their expertise in supporting the adoption of low dose, high frequency simulation-based training to improve the competency of health care workers. Laerdal Global Health are well placed to support us here in Ethiopia as have previously collaborated with the Ethiopian Government through the Ministry of Health, along with other important professional associations. We look forward to realizing the impact we can make together.”
As part of the partnership, additional simulators and educational materials will be donated due to the potential the project has to save lives. This is possible thanks to the Laerdal Buy One, Gift One program.
To learn more about IHI, visit their website here.
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