In a study published today in Health Affairs, co-author and WLF consultant Colin McCord details how infrastructure and access to facilities are the main limiting factors in effective emergency obstetrical care. World Lung Foundation's project in Tanzania has already yielded significant health care improvements:
The Health Affairs study examined 1,134 complicated deliveries and 1,072 major obstetrical operations and found that there were no significant differences between the quality of care given by medical officers and AMOs, who are typically non-physician clinicians trained in emergency surgery.
Dr. Colin McCord, said, "Maternal health in Tanzania has made tremendous progress by training AMOs to do basic emergency surgeries; the task now is ensuring there are enough operational clinics within reach of the population and making sure patients can get to those clinics."
The projected number of women receiving treatment for complicated deliveries will increase from 24% to 60%, and hospital case fatality from complicated deliveries is expected to shrink from 1.2% to below 1%, saving the lives of 360 mothers and 1,500 newborn children each year.
"Lung health does not exist in a vacuum and in remote regions there may be only one practitioner for everything from pneumonia to TB treatment to surgery," said Peter Baldini, Executive Director of World Lung Foundation. "The Kigoma Project demonstrates that adding basic infrastructure and enhancing the skill sets of those few local medical officers can have a dramatic effect on lung health and beyond."Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed ornare laoreet consectetur. Donec vitae ante justo, a blandit tortor. Aliquam erat volutpat. Nullam nec sagittis quam. Nullam quis porta erat. Sed eleifend libero id diam mollis varius. Morbi et justo tellus, vel egestas ligula. Suspendisse sodales, purus nec pulvinar feugiat, sapien odio fringilla elit, sed viverra neque leo et sapien. Etiam nunc turpis, euismod in viverra ultricies, porttitor commodo ipsum. Pellentesque molestie congue posuere. Proin ultricies accumsan turpis, vitae aliquet eros sagittis a. Phasellus ac ultrices elit. Nullam non tortor sit amet ante aliquam ultricies viverra sed quam. Sed ornare sollicitudin ante ut viverra. Maecenas lectus sapien, sollicitudin id placerat sed, convallis at massa. Integer sodales dolor urna. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae; Nam lacus dolor, pretium a iaculis quis, ullamcorper vel magna. Aenean scelerisque velit elit, vitae adipiscing purus.