Health

Safe Motherhood and Infant Care Project 

Motherhood is one the most extraordinary time in a woman’s life and it is possibly the most gratifying experience ever. However for some, the reality is sometimes different. In Asia, Bangladesh has one of the highest maternal mortality rate (290 per 100,000) and infant mortality rate (52 per 1,000) as only 19% women get skilled attendants during delivery. Thus, it is necessary for Bangladesh to foster a safe motherhood.

Safe motherhood is not only vital to avoid untimely and painful maternal and child deaths, but also to nurture a healthy and prosperous nation. Henceforth, reducing infant mortality and improving maternal health has been identified as two of the eight Millennium Development Goals.

Objective

Grameenphone Safe Motherhood & Infant Care Project was designed to ensure high quality safe motherhood and infant care services to the economically disadvantaged mothers and their infants throughout the country free of cost. It is also aimed to assist in necessary infrastructure development and extension of basic healthcare services especially in remote areas.

Project Duration

May 2007 – November 2010

Project description

In partnership with Pathfinder International and USAID’s network of Smiling Sun clinics in 61 districts, free primary healthcare services were provided by health professionals via 320 static clinics, 8000 satellite clinics and 6000 community-based health-workers across the country. In addition, the project introduced 4 clinic-on-wheels (i.e. mobile mini-clinic) to complement these existing service touch-points to enhance the accessibility of services in remote areas. Ten mini-ambulances were also provided in order to facilitate home delivery by skilled birth attendants (SBA) and ensure emergency referral.

Project Achievements

A total of 1,765,088 services had been provided to economically disadvantaged mothers and infants through the project across the country. Among these, 15,976 deliveries has been conducted by the skilled professionals.

Patiya and Bhola clinics of FDSR and Swanirvar Bangladesh respectively have been upgraded to emergency obstetric care centers.

Free Eye Camps

Bangladesh has the highest number of blind people compared to its population. There are about 750,000 adults and 40,000 children who live such a life due to cataract or other ocular diseases that could have been cured easily with timely and proper intervention.

The major challenge to eliminate blindness in Bangladesh is not being able to reach out to the rural and underprivileged population as majority of the country’s eye-care facilities are based in the big cities. 80% of Bangladeshis living in the rural areas are completely deprived of all eye-care services. However, Bangladesh is a signatory to the VISION 2020: Right to Sight, a global initiative jointly launched in 1999 by WHO and IAPB, to eradicate blindness from the world by the 2020.

Objective

Grameenphone, in partnership with Sightsavers International, aims to combat blindness in different parts of the country where eye-care services are not readily available.

Project Duration

March 2007 – July 2010

Project brief

Grameenphone, jointly with Sightsavers International, organized 24 free eye-camps in different parts of the country in coordination with local NGO partners. Prior to the days of the eye-camps, community-based public announcements were carried out in the targeted localities to ensure optimal participation. In these eye -camps, two types of services were provided: free prescription based on necessary medical check-up, and free cataract surgery, if required.

Project achievement

Around 36,327 patients received free eye-care support and 4,743 cataract surgeries were performed through these 24 regular eye-camps across the country.

Around 14,066 school children and garment workers were screened through 14 special eye-camps where free spectacles were given to refractive error patients 

NID Awareness Campaign

Bangladesh was declared polio free in August 2000. However, 18 new cases were indentified between March 2007 to November 2008. And ever since then, no new cases of polio have been reported in Bangladesh. Thus, there is strong reason to believe that the disease can be completely eradicated from the country if all children in Bangladesh can be brought under the immunization program even though a sizeable amount of cross-border transmission happening with India and Myanmar keep us in little hope of eliminating the deadly disease completely.

Objective

Project Duration

March 2007 – till date

Project detail

In an effort to eradicate the re-emergence of polio, Bangladesh has been observing National Immunization Days (NIDs). Grameenphone is a proud partner of this mass awareness campaign during the NIDs. As a part of the campaign, radio and newspaper announcements urge parents to bring their children to vaccination centers across the country. Free SMS alert are sent to all Grameenphone subscribers, and mobile vaccination centers run throughout the Dhaka City Corporation.

Mobiles for health (M4H) Initiative

Reducing maternal and childhood mortality are key priorities for Bangladesh to reach the Millennium Development Goals. While Bangladesh has made significant progress in both maternal and infant deaths in recent years, neonatal mortality still makes up 57 per cent of under-5 deaths in Bangladesh and the maternal mortality rate is still among the highest in Asia. According to research, a critical factor for progress in health outcomes is to increase awareness of health behaviors – such as hygiene awareness, awareness of signs of infant illness and seeking care.

Therefore, Grameenphone has joined in an innovative new coalition which has been announced by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, the Mobile Alliance for Maternal Action (MAMA) that harnesses the power of mobile technology to deliver vital health information to new and expectant mothers.

Objective

The objectives are to achieve sustained improvements in health knowledge, behaviors, and outcomes. The service aims to reach 500,000 pregnant women and new mothers within three years.

Project Duration

May 2011- till date

Project Description

Grameenphone has signed an agreement with D.Net to join the partnership “Mobiles for Health” (M4H) to support mother and infant health. D.Net is the coalition coordinator of M4H, a public-private partnership driven by the US Agency for International Development under the stewardship of the Bangladeshi government. The M4H initiative uses mobile phones to deliver life-saving health information to expectant and new mothers in Bangladesh via voice and SMS. Mobile health messages are able to quickly and easily disseminate information that will inform women of ways to care for themselves during pregnancy, dispel myths and misconceptions, highlight warning signs, connect women with local health services, reinforce breast feeding practices, explain the benefits of family planning, and make new mothers aware of how best to care for their babies.

Project Achievement

The M4H initiative is currently in its design and test phase to build a platform to provide both audio and text messages with vital information on antenatal, neonatal, and infant health. The messages will be linked to the women's delivery dates, giving them critical information at the right stage in their pregnancy and early motherhood.