Prime
Support innovation to save preterm babies
What you need to know:
The issue: Preterm babies
Our view: We welcome the plans by African Space Research Programme to manufacture the machines in bulk to save more preterm babies. The government should support this proposal and take the initiative across the country...
One of the biggest healthcare challenges Uganda faces today is in the area of maternal health, specifically the management of pregnancy-related complications and preterm babies. While various interventions have over the years been rolled out to prevent and treat such complications, huge challenges still persist.
Whereas the grim statistics that define maternal mortality in this country is well known and widely reported, with various surveys putting the figure at 16 deaths daily, more attention is given to it when a prominent personality becomes part of the statistics.
On a positive note, different interventions to reduce maternal mortality across the country have registered progressive impact. According to the Uganda Demographic and Health Survey 2O16, maternal mortality ratio dropped from 438 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2011 to 336 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2016.
While most of the data on maternal health are mostly in relation to maternal mortality, a related area of concern is the care for preterm babies. Newborns are generally vulnerable but preterm babies – those born too early – are most at risk.
According to health experts, prematurity is the leading cause of death among children under five around the world, and a leading cause of disability and ill health later in life.
With sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia said to account for More than 60 per cent of preterm births worldwide, the news that a Uganda-invented machine is saving premature as well as critically ill babies that require an incubator to survive, is encouraging.
The incubator, which the Mukono Health Centre IV has used for the last two months, has, according to Dr Geoffrey Kasirye, the-officer-in charge of the facility, saved 55 babies’ lives out of the 700 babies born at the health unit every month. Dr Kasirye says of the 700 monthly births at the facility, at least 25 per cent are born preterm and require an incubator to survive.
Such innovations should therefore be celebrated given their contribution to our critical healthcare needs. According to Mr Chris Nsamba, the director of African Space Research Programme, they created the incubator – known as SAVANT Genius – in only six months. It was tested for two years before being installed for use at Mukono Health Centre IV.
We welcome the plans by African Space Research Programme to manufacture the machines in bulk to save more preterm babies. The government should support this proposal and take the initiative across the country, especially to lower health units where critical care for newborns remains wanting.
