TimorNewsNetwork

source: UN News Centre

Timor-Leste hospital receives life-saving obstetrics equipment from UN

A child in Dili, capital of Timor-Leste.

4 February 2010 – To help combat high maternal mortality rates in Timor-Leste, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has supplied equipment to assist in child delivery to a hospital in the capital of the fledgling nation.

The equipment was handed over to the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of the Guido Valadares National Hospital on 28 January.

Pornchai Suchitta, UNFPA Representative, voiced hope that the equipment will help to save lives.

UNFPA has been working with the hospital since 2000 to build the capacity of the obstetrics and gynecology staff to tackle the high maternal mortality rate and other issues related to women’s health in the country.

According to a joint study by UNFPA, the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Bank, nearly 200 women died in Timor-Leste in 2005 while or shortly after giving birth.

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