A joint healthcare project worth US$356,000 aiming at enhancing healthcare services for mothers and newborns in ethnic minorities has been launched in the northern province of Yen Bai by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Save the Children.
As planned, the three-year project will focus on increasing community awareness of maternal and newborn care; improving availability, accessibility and utilization of basic medical services in commune health facilities; improving two newborn care units in Nghia Lo and Tram Tau district hospital; establishing Kangaroo Mother Care units in district and provincial hospitals.
Research conducted by Save the Children in 2014 in six communes of Tram Tau District in Yen Bai province, shows that up to 91 percent of women gave birth at home without skilled birth attendance. This disparity include a lack of utilities and healthcare services, as well as limited knowledge about maternal and newborn health practices of people in the remote areas, especially those in the central highlands and Northen Delta, including Yen Bai Province.
