Jhpiego Receives $40 Million To Save The Lives Of Women In Tanzania

Main Category: Aid / Disasters
Also Included In: Pregnancy / Obstetrics;  Pediatrics / Children's Health
Article Date: 01 Oct 2008 - 2:00 PDT

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The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Tanzania has awarded Jhpiego up to $40 million over five years to implement the Mothers and Infants, Safe, Healthy, Alive (MAISHA) program. MAISHA is a consortium to improve availability and quality of health care services in Tanzania for pregnant women and their newborns with a focus on more rural and lower level facilities.

It is estimated that Tanzania has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world with 578 women dying during delivery for every 100,000 women who give birth, and with annual mortality rates of 13,000 for pregnant women and 45,000 for newborns. Jhpiego will collaborate with the Tanzanian Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to strengthen high-quality pre-natal care, basic emergency obstetric and newborn care, and community level services to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS.

"Women don't have to die in child birth." says Dr. Leslie Mancuso, president and CEO of Jhpiego "For over 35 years, Jhpiego has been a leader in developing innovative solutions to save the lives of women and children in many of the world's most vulnerable populations. We look forward to working with USAID and the Tanzanian Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to reverse this trend and to make motherhood safer for the women of Tanzania."

The project aims to:

- Reduce maternal mortality associated with major direct causes of mortality, including postpartum hemorrhage;

- Reduce newborn mortality due to infection;

- Reduce prevalence of low birth weight babies, stillbirths and newborn mortality due to malaria and congenital syphilis; and

- Reduce the number of transmissions of HIV infections from mother to child.

This project is part of USAID's larger effort to improve the lives of Tanzanians through better health with over $170 million in funding for 2008. The MAISHA consortium, led by Jhpiego, consists of: Save the Children, Constella Futures, and IMA World Health, along with a Tanzanian social marketing organization, T-MARC.

Jhpiego will provide technical assistance and program implementation at all levels in order to make a real difference in keeping mothers and their newborn infants, safe, healthy, and alive.

About Jhpiego

Jhpiego, (pronounced "JA-PIE-GO"), is an international non-profit health organization affiliated with The Johns Hopkins University. For 35 years, Jhpiego has empowered front-line health workers by designing and implementing effective, low-cost, hands-on solutions to strengthen the delivery of health care services. By putting evidence-based health innovations into everyday practice, Jhpiego works to break down barriers to quality health care services for the world's most vulnerable populations.

Jhpiego