Press Releases
Ambassador Ordway Visits USAID Safe Motherhood Pilot Site in Karaganda City Maternity Hospital
June 21, 2007
Karaganda
Today U.S. Ambassador John Ordway visited the Safe Motherhood pilot site in Karaganda City Maternity Hospital. This pilot is implemented by the U.S. Agency for International Development ZdravPlus project in cooperation with the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Karaganda Oblast Health Department.
Karaganda City Maternity Hospital is one of eleven hospitals where USAID assists the Ministry of Health to implement the National Safe Motherhood Program; other USAID-supported hospitals are located in Astana, Almaty, Zhezkazgan, and Karaganda Oblast. The Safe Motherhood Program is based on the World Health Organization’s Safe Motherhood Strategy and is aimed at the reduction of maternal and child morbidity and mortality. These activities directly support maternal and child health priority objectives under the Kazakhstan’s National Health Care Reform and Development Program for 2005 - 2010.
“Maternal and child health is a high priority for the U.S. Government, and we support this activity in Kazakhstan through USAID. USAID closely collaborates with the Ministry of Health to assist in the implementation of the national health care reform and the reform of the maternal and child health services in particular,” – said Ambassador Ordway during his visit to the hospital, where he was accompanied by Director of the Karaganda Oblast Health Department Mazhit Shaydarov, Chief Doctor of the Karaganda City Maternity Hospital Irina Tsoy, representatives of USAID and CDC, doctors, and nurses.
Since 2004 USAID, through its ZdravPlus project, has been helping to improve the quality and appropriateness of maternal and child health services. The project provides competency-based clinical training for medical professionals, helps improve family planning counseling, and the overall quality of services. In addition, ZdravPlus facilitates and contributes to the introduction of evidence-based practices and elimination of harmful or useless clinical practices in the eleven pilot hospitals. This assistance is part of a broader range of health system strengthening and financing activities aimed at achieving cost-effective service delivery.
Assistance to maternal and child health improvements is only of many USAID assistance programs in Kazakhstan. Since 1992 the American people, through USAID have provided more than $500 million in assistance for the country’s economic sector, healthcare system, and democratic institutions.
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POINTS OF CONTACT
Lisa Myglina Virginija Morgan
ZdravPlus Kazakhstan Country Manager USAID Outreach Coordinator for Central Asia
Tel: 8-327-291-57-75 Tel: 8-327-250-76-12
lisa@zplus.kz vmorgan@usaid.gov
www.zplus.kz http://centralasia.usaid.gov