On Wednesday, Dr. Altagracia Guzmán, the Dominican Minister of Health announced, without specifying a date that she will soon meet his Haitian counterpart Dr. Marie Greta Roy Clément, to discuss maternal health problems due to the increase of neonatal mortality among Haitian parturients, found in recent weeks in the Dominican territory.

Dr. Altagracia Guzmán, indicated that neonatal deaths will be the focus of discussion, explaining that the maternal health of Haitian parturients without prenatal control, teenage pregnancy, malnutrition, anemia and genetic factors or diseases are the main causes of these deaths; adding "Most Dominicans have follow-up checks on their pregnancies, unlike Haitian women who arrive in Dominican hospitals without following up on their pregnancies and this becomes a risk factor."

In addition, Dr. Guzmán indicated that the preventive measures taken in the Dominican Republic to combat this situation include vaccination days throughout the country, the application of health and care protocols in health centers and the training of doctors, medical staff, However, according to Teresa Narváez Project Director HOPE, an American company that has been developing programs in the neighboring Republic for 22 years, in addition to the aspects put forward by the Minister of Health, the lack of respect of the biosafety protocols such as wearing gloves, washing hands and awareness of the risk of infection leads to the increased emergence of bacteria that causes infant deaths in hospitals, bined with a lack of medical supplies, specialized professional resources lack of training of nurses specialized in obstetrics, neonatology and pediatrics.

Recall that in the last 4 weeks, 191 deaths of newborns, the majority of Haitian origin, were reported in 17 Dominican Health Centers, public and private, most of them close to the Haitian border.

SL/ HaitiLibre