(Central News Agency reporter Li Dengwen, Guatemala City on the 23rd) The mortality rate of pregnant women and newborns in Taiwan’s friendly country Guatemala remains high. Fortunately, the first phase of Guatemala’s maternal and child cooperation program with Taiwan has included new students in cooperative medical institutions. The infant mortality rate has been successfully reduced by 3%. A new batch of seed medical personnel went to Taiwan for training at the end of April, adding fuel to the spread of maternal and child medical technology and knowledge.
The neonatal building of Hospital San Juan De Dios, jointly built by the Republic of China and Guatemala, held an unveiling ceremony on the 12th. Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo emphasized in his speech that there are many mothers in Guatemala, and one in every 10 babies is premature due to malnutrition or infection with various diseases.
According to Guaranteed government statistics, the local maternal and neonatal mortality rates are higher than the average in Latin America and the Caribbean. The main reasons are the insufficient capacity of medical institutions and the lack of maternal and child medical staff. , even those with high-risk pregnancies are unable to receive appropriate care.
The Guatemalan government has listed improving the national maternal and child health care system as an important issue in its national development strategy from 2018 to 2032, and therefore seeks medical technical assistance from Taiwan. In order to improve the quality of maternal and child care in Guatemala, the Technical Mission of the Foundation for International Cooperation and Development in Guatemala has been cooperating with National Taiwan University Hospital and the Ministry of Health of Guatemala on maternal and child projects since 2019.
The technical mission in Guatemala stated that this maternal and child project will be completed in a three-year period, assisting four medical institutions in Guatemala to upgrade medical equipment, train medical personnel, and produce health education and promotion materials. It is expected to assist in caring for more than 200,000 people. Pregnant women and newborns in Guangdong, and train more than 400 local maternal and child medical personnel.
This plan has achieved great results. In the three years from 2019 to 2022, it has successfully reduced the neonatal mortality rate in cooperative medical institutions by 3%. Beginning in the second phase of the three-year plan in 2022, the neonatal plan will be extended to 17 medical institutions across the country. In addition to the introduction of medical equipment, such as ultrasound, fetal monitors, vital sign monitors and incubators, the most important thing It is the inheritance of education and training experience.
The technical delegation stationed in Guatemala pointed out that Guatemala selected obstetrics, gynecology, pediatrics and nursing staff to come to Taiwan to receive a two-month training at National Taiwan University Hospital, including courses related to handling high-risk groups in obstetrics and pediatrics. A new batch of maternal and child medical personnel from Guangzhou will also leave for Taiwan for training at the end of April.
After returning to Guangdong after training, these seed teachers are expected to hold a total of 20 courses and lectures in their own places, including teaching on the use of various medical equipment and skills, hoping to train more than 400 grassroots maternal and child medical personnel, taking advantage of Taiwan’s advantages in the public health field. and experience, using a spreading model to spread maternal and child medical technology and knowledge to all parts of the country (Editor: Wei Shu) 1130424
