12 January 2009
Eighteen-year-old Sumera Daood, from Khairabad village in North West Frontier Province, Pakistan, is going places. Following personal tragedy after losing her father and two sisters to tuberculosis and cancer, she is committed to improving healthcare in her local community - and earning a decent living for herself and her family at the same time.
Having worked as a social activist during the National Polio Immunisation campaign in 2005, Sumera is now one of 35 students at the newly established, DFID-supported Community Midwifery School in Nowshera District.
Travelling 30 kilometres every morning, she spends 100 Rupees a day on local transport. "It’s a long journey to get here," Sumera says, "but I feel happy that I am going to have the skills I need to help people."
Responding to an urgent problem
Improving access to better healthcare poses real challenges in Pakistan. One in ten children die before their fifth birthday, two out of five children are malnourished and 15,000 women die each year due to complications in pregnancy and childbirth – the fourth highest maternal mortality rate in the world.
But things are changing. Last year, the government launched the national Maternal, Newborn and Child Health programme (MNCH). Central to the success of this initiative will be the creation of a cadre of trained community midwives. Over the next five years, more schools will open throughout Pakistan, training 12,000 more people for these jobs.
And to ensure that aspiring midwives from poor backgrounds like Sumera's are not held back by money concerns, the government has issued stipends of 3,500 Rupees (£25). With hers, Sumera is able to study for her university degree, contribute to the household income, and meet her sizeable travel expenses. "It's important that the government offers more girls the chance to have the training, so they can work as paramedics or midwives," Sumera states emphatically. "That’s what will save lives."
Facts and stats
- Out of every 100,000 live births in Pakistan, 320 result in death for the mother (the UK rate is 13 per 100,000).
- DFID is providing £91 million of support to the Maternal, Newborn and Child Health programme (2008-13).
- The UK will double aid to Pakistan to £480 million for the period 2008–11.