§ Mrs. SpelmanTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on(a) her Department's support for clinical services and (b) levels of maternal mortality in Malawi. [76893]
§ Clare ShortMy Department's support to the National Sexual and Reproductive Health Programme (SRHP) and Communicable Diseases control programme contribute to improved clinical services in Malawi.
Under the SRHP DFID provides for:
increased access to, and utilisation of, cost effective STI treatment and prevention down to the health centre level;essential laboratory services including laboratory test reagents, kits and associated training for HIV/AIDS and STI support work;upgrading of clinical facilities, including laboratories, maternity wards, delivery rooms and operating theatres;provision of drugs and equipment that support emergency obstetric care;life saving skills training, advanced midwifery training, and overall administrative, clinical and technical skills strengthening.The communicable disease component of DFID' s work supports the National Tuberculosis Control Programme, by providing:
ambulatory treatment (Directly Observed Treatment)new standardised, and more effective regimes of treatmentdecentralised laboratory diagnosis.In the longer term, joint donor support to the Ministry of Health, through a sector-wide approach, will address all levels of clinical service provision.
Maternal mortality in Malawi is increasing. The 2000 Malawi Demographic and Health Survey indicates a doubling in the figure to 1,120 deaths per 100,000 live births. The reasons are complex, and the cause of death is not always clear. However the increase can in part be attributed to the declining health system, the methodological means of measuring mortality where HIV/AIDS is increasing rapidly, and the current food crisis (where health is compromised by other factors such as increasing poverty, suppressed immune systems and poor nutritional status).
§ Mrs. SpelmanTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on her Department's approach to healthcare in Malawi. [76896]
§ Clare ShortDFID supports the Government of Malawi's efforts to provide comprehensive sexual and reproductive health, communicable disease control, and health systems development. Sexual and reproductive health assistance is increasing access to reproductive, maternal and sexual health services, and fostering adoption of safer sex practices especially among the poor, young people and marginalised groups. It will also have a positive effect in countering the rate of increase of HIV/AIDS. The communicable disease control elements support strategies to combat the spread of tuberculosis, to improve immunisation coverage of childhood diseases, and to increase treatment and prevention of malaria. Systems development activities will strengthen the government's Central Medical Stores and drug supply chain, develop a cost effective essential medical laboratory service, and develop an Essential Health Package.
549WIn the longer term, DFID and other donor partners are supporting the Malawian Government's objective of working towards a sector-wide approach for delivery of health assistance. The SWAp is currently under design will support nationally defined health policies and strategies to improve the health status of all Malawians.
§ Mrs. SpelmanTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development how her Department's budget for improving health care in Malawi is spent. [76894]
§ Clare ShortMy Department's health programme in Malawi is focused in three main areas: sexual and reproductive health, communicable disease control, and health systems development. This represents a total commitment of £100 million between 1997–2008.