The series of webinars promoted by the Universidade Aberta do SUS of the Universidade Federal do Piauí (UNA-SUS/UFPI) through partnerships with other institutions has been attracting the attention of professionals in the area of Primary Health Care and researchers in the area.
On July 12, the theme “Strategies for the Reduction of Maternal Mortality” was presented. Moderated by Verônica Abdala, Manager of Services and Sources of Information at BIREME/PAHO/WHO, the event was opened by the Vice-Rector of the UFPI, Viriato Campelo: “this project is part of the university’s agenda, because it is of great importance to combat maternal mortality, especially here in Piauí”. Representing the Council of Municipal Health Secretariats of Piauí (COSEMES-PI), Vice President Leopoldina Cipriano says that addressing this issue means a strengthening of primary health care. In her words, “we are aware of the numerous challenges faced by COSEMES, and so participation in events of this nature is extremely important to reduce maternal mortality in our state”.
According to the Coordinator of Women’s Health of the State of Piauí, Maria Auzeni Moura Fé, the debate is extremely important for civil society as a whole. “It’s a pleasure to be here discussing maternal mortality, a public health issue. As vaccination of pregnant women progresses, we hope to minimize maternal deaths from the coronavirus”.
The specialist in Gynecology and Obstetrics and Management of Health Services of the Latin American Center for Perinatology Women and Reproductive Health of the Pan American Health Organization (CLAP), Bremen de Mucio, presented the topic related to strategies to reduce maternal mortality offered by CLAP. “We offer technical cooperation to improve the quality of care for pregnant women in the following areas: development of maternal health action plans, training of health professionals for the correct and humanized care of prenatal care and childbirth, as well as the main obstetric emergencies and specific actions aimed at communities and the strengthening of monitoring of severe maternal morbidity and maternal mortality”, said the specialist.
According to Joselma Maria Oliveira, director of the Hospital Organization of the state of Piauí, this moment is of great relevance for this qualified discussion. “We are always looking for support and studying the most appropriate strategies to reduce maternal mortality in Piauí. In addition, the state Secretary of Health is open to participating in projects that help qualify the maternal care network, in order to add even more to gestational care”, said the director.
Concerning information and knowledge of scientific strategies to prevent the death of pregnant women, Diego González, director of BIREME, highlighted the importance of disseminating information and evidence on maternal mortality and strategies to reduce it. He emphasized that this is one of the objectives of the 2030 Agenda, specified in SDG 3, which is related to Health and Well-being. Some of the main sources of information where high-quality information can be accessed are, for example: the PAHO/WHO Iris Repository, the Regional VHL, and especially the CLAP VHL, among others. In his speech, González reiterated the importance the local level has in the work of the Latin American and Caribbean Center on Health Sciences Information, BIREME, and that the commitment to reducing maternal mortality is a global one. He also recognized the joint work that the Brazilian Ministry of Health and the Universidade do Piauí are developing together with PAHO Brazil, CLAP and BIREME to refer actions aimed at reducing maternal mortality.
Reducing maternal mortality is a great challenge and it is up to all citizens to fight for it. Professor Lis Marinho thanked BIREME, COESEMES and CLAP for their collaboration. “We are coming out of the academic walls and working together with pregnant women, because we believe that only then can we change reality; at this moment when we are in charge of NUEPES and the professional master’s degree program in women’s health, we are responsible for this great challenge, which is the reduction of maternal mortality”, said the professor.
Veronica Abdala stated that “the use of scientific evidence to support health decisions, especially to reduce maternal mortality in Piauí, is a laudable opportunity and initiative. I thank Prof Lis Marinho of UFPI and the Department of Health of Piauí (SESAPI) for bringing scientific knowledge to the top of the health system in Piauí”.
The event recording is available on the NUEPES YouTube Channel.
Reference: Universidade Federal do Piauí. “UNA-SUS/UFPI e Nuepes realizam Webinário ‘Estratégias para a Redução da Mortalidade Materna’”. Available at: https://ufpi.br/ultimas-noticias-ufpi/41687-una-sus-ufpi-e-nuepes-realizam-webinario-estrategias-para-a-reducao-da-mortalidade-materna