Maternal mortality rate in Lebanon drops to 23 per 1000 || Newspapers (Arabic)

During a high level regional meeting held in Dubai yesterday, Dr. Ali Hassan Khalil, the Minister of Public Health, noted that maternal mortality in Lebanon dropped to 23 per 1000 whilst child mortality fell to 11 per 1000, also pointing out to Lebanon’s commitment to set up the nationality mortality observatory. The meeting was convened by the WHO, UNICEF and UNFPA for the Middle East region in order to discuss maternal and infant mortality, and was attended by the Minister as well as the president of the Lebanese Obstetrics Association

The Minister further noted that Lebanon has been able to meet objectives numbered 4& 5 of the regional action plan namely decreasing mortality rates and improving maternal health, respectively.  He also pointed out to the various steps taken within the process of strengthening primary health care and especially targeting women as well as monitoring maternal and child health as well as family planning.  Finally, the Minister also emphasized objective of government to increase awareness and to pursue work in relation to finalizing the medical pregnancy protocol, adopting the pregnancy register, developing the monitoring chart for pregnant women as well as updating the newborn register.
Source: Al-Diyar February 2013