Hanoi (VNA) – More than 2 million USD willbe provided to help Vietnam reduce maternal deaths among ethnic minority womenunder a freshly-signed project.

The project “Leaving no one behind: Innovativeinterventions to reduce maternal mortality in ethnic minority regions inVietnam” was signed on September 24 by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) in Vietnam, Merck Sharp &Dohme (MSD HH Vietnam), a leading global biopharmaceutical company, and MSD for Mothers. 

“Vietnam has made significant progress in improvingsexual and reproductive health of the general population in the past 20 years,and was one of the only six countries in the world, which achieved, in 2015,the Millennium Development Goal – 5 (MDG5) on the reduction of maternalmortality,” UNFPA Representative in Vietnam Kitahara Naomi told the signing and launching ceremony of the project.

However, disparities and inequalities remain in access toand utilization of sexual and reproductive health services among different ethnic groups and regions, she said.

Since 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbatedexisting inequalities and disproportionately affected vulnerable populationgroups, especially women and girls in general and pregnant mothers in theethnic minority regions in particular, Kitahara said, adding that UNFPA is very much alarmed by this, as it essentiallymeant a reversal of developmental gains that Vietnam has achieved in the pastdecades in the areas of sexual and reproductive health.

Jennifer Cox, General Director of MSD HH Vietnam, saidshe believes this project will bring tangible benefits to women in Vietnam andset the foundation for communities and societies to thrive for generations tocome.

Nguyen Duc Vinh, Director of the Maternal and ChildHealth Department under the Ministry of Health confirmed the support of the ministry tothe project, adding to improve the health status of people who left behindincluding ethnic minorities is the centre of the government’s developmentagenda.

Funded by MSD for Mothers and MSD Vietnam in the amountof 1.2 million USD and the UNDP with 810,000 USD, the project is one of themost important initiatives to reduce maternal mortality among ethnic minoritiesin six provinces in Vietnam’s Northern Midlands and Mountains.

The project aims at increasing access to and utilizationof integrated, quality and voluntary sexual and reproductive health servicesamongst ethnic minorities; improving the capacity on emergency obstetric caremanagement in remote mountainous localities; and building a village-based birthattendant network in remote ethnic minority localities.

It will also integrate the COVID-19 prevention andcontrol into the existing sexual and reproductive health programme and deliverinnovative health education and community mobilization to ethnic minoritycommunities to promote safe maternal deliveries.

Women, especially pregnant women, in 60 remote ethnicminority communes of six most disadvantaged provinces of Bac Can, Lai Chau, SonLa, Dac Nong, Kon Tum and Gia Lai are expected to benefit from the project’sinnovative interventions.

UNFPA will deliver the project in collaboration with theMinistry of Health, Provincial Departments of Health in the selected provinces,and local civil society organizations from September 1, 2021 to September 30,2024./.