UNFPA, United Nations Population Fund continues its support to the Ministry of Health and Medical Industry of Turkmenistan in regionalizing the perinatal health services.
Progress review and development of recommendations on regionalization of maternal and perinatal care was the focus of the round-table, which gathered the representatives of the Ministry, velayat obstetricians and gynecologists. Dr. Angela Turcan, UNFPA international expert and Director of the perinatal center in Chisinau, facilitated the round-table and presented Moldova’s successful experience in regionalization.
UNFPA continues to partner with the Ministry and health care specialists in improving the quality of maternal and newborn services. The government endorsed the National Strategy on Improvement of Maternal, Newborn, Adolescent and Child health for 2015-2019, developed with joint support of UNFPA, UNICEF and WHO. The improvement of perinatal services and specifically neonatal healthcare services is an important focus area of the Strategy; therefore the Ministry adopted the Order #166 on Regionalization.
The aim of regionalization is to improve the standardization and coordination of integrated health care delivery on different levels in the country to ensure that all women in different parts of the country receive consistent and equal level of quality health care services.
The Order outlines the key concept and experience of creating effective and functioning system of regionalization of perinatal care in the country; presents the organigram of the system; identifies the set of services, staffing and equipment for each level of the maternities; includes criteria for referral and methods of transportation for women with pregnancy complications and newborns to the next level.
Three levels of perinatal care provision in Turkmenistan are classified by the Order: primary (maternities), secondary (birth giving facilities, perinatal centers on city and etrap levels), and tertiary (birth giving facilities and perinatal centers on velayat level).
“During the last two years we have partnered closely with UNFPA in developing the Order on regionalization, where the list of perinatal care services, human resources and referral system were standardized,” said Dr. Muhammet Ergeshov, Head of the Treatment and Prophylactics Department of the Ministry in his opening statement. “As a result of the coordinated implementation of Order, in the last 2 years we have seen a significant decline in maternal mortality, especially in the secondary level birth giving facilities.”
One of the benefits of regionalizing public health services is that it contributes to the cost-effectiveness in human resources and medical equipment. With better coordination, the medical specialists on the tertiary level enhance and maintain their skills due to the increased uptake of complicated cases, and women with normal birth receive timely and quality care at first and second levels.
“The improving maternal health outcomes in the country demonstrate that the enhanced effort of the Ministry of Health and Medical Industry of Turkmenistan, supported by UNFPA, is paying off,” said Ms. Bayramgul Garabayeva, UNFPA Assistant Representative. “UNFPA will continue to partner with the Ministry in creating a sustainable and equitable delivery of high quality perinatal health services in all parts of the country.”
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UNFPA: Delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe, and every young person’s potential is fulfilled.
For additional information, please contact:
Bayramgul Garabayeva,
UNFPA Assistant Representative
Ene Tuyliyeva, Advocacy Communication Associate
Tel: 269255
Web: turkmenistan.unfpa.org, tm.one.un.org
