Mia Farrow on Child and Maternal Health in Guinea

UNICEF's Edward Balley reports on Goodwill Ambassador Mia Farrow's trip to Guinea and the need for improved child and maternal health care.

Mia Farrow on Child and Maternal Health in Guinea Edward Bally: The current transition in Guinea presents an opportunity to invest in maternal and child health. Repeated shots since 2006 have weakened basic services and lack of investments led to the resurgence of childhood killer diseases such as polio, tetanus and measles. In Guinea, malnutrition is on the rise and hospitals are overcrowded. On the five-day visit in the country, UNICEF’s Goodwill Ambassador Mia Farrow observed the evident of need for sustained investments to ensure every child can receive lifesaving care. Mia Farrow: On the bright side, you have dedicated doctors and nurses here really struggling to meet the needs of very many children. The downside is that there are too many children for this facility. Edward Bally: In the capital city of Conakry, the Donka Hospital runs twice its capacity. More than 60 children are treated for severe malnutrition but only 30 beds are available which leads no options for the mothers but sleep on the floor outside or in the corridor. Mamadou Cellou Balte: We need to extend the number of wards. We need tools because we are a reference hospital in the region. We also want to train new pediatricians, so that they can create specialized units in the hospitals of the region. Edward Bally: In rural Guinea, Mia Farrow witnessed first hand the barriers to access to health care. In the village of Fermessadou, in the Forest Guinea, the shelves of this health center are empty and the village lacks crucial tools to provide lifesaving care. But there are signs of hope, creative solutions and the availability of resources can make the difference between life and death. With the support from UNICEF, pregnant women now have access to Pediatricians. In this hospital in Kissidougou, doctors practice 30 operations every month. For women, this means “let's risk to die while giving birth”. Julien Harneis: It's a bigger problem and it's really complicated to resolve. We can't continue to be like this forever whereby UNICEF is discovering the diseases. The government has to step in but that requires a reform of the health services. Edward Bally: In Fermessadou, UNICEF and its partners helps the members of the community to set up a mutual savings insurance system called “MURIGA”. For five dollars a year, pregnant women have access to specialized care during their pregnancy and to assistance during the delivery. MURIGA is operational in 12 villages around Fermessadou, and UNICEF wishes to scale up the project nationwide and to extend it to children under five. For these communities, UNICEF also provide them the health centers with a motor ambulance to transport pregnant women in need of urgent obstetric care. With adequate investment and support, big steps can be made through out achieving the Millennium Goal of reducing child and maternal mortality in Guinea. This is Edward Balley reporting for UNICEF Television. For more information, go to UNICEF.org. Unite for Children.