Pretoria - Government and a host of different stakeholders have come up with ways to reduce neonatal deaths in Gauteng hospitals.
Gauteng Health and Social Development Portfolio Committee, labour organisations, members of hospital boards, non-governmental organisations and an array of other stakeholders attended the Provincial Health Consultative Forum on Thursday, hosted by the province's Health and Social Development MEC Qedani Mahlangu.
They agreed that thousands of Gauteng babies could be saved from premature deaths if the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission programme was strengthened; if government retained medical interns and provided pregnancy management training to staff.
Other recommendations on how to prevent the premature deaths of more than 11 000 babies in the province included improving post-natal care, health messages, equipment procurement and general clinical skills.
The Health and Social Development department says at least 192 618 children were born at the province's public health facilities last year. Of that figure, there were 4 202 still births and 1 973 neonatal deaths.
Mahlangu assured delegates at the forum that government would work to implement the recommendations.
"This forum has not only afforded us as government an opportunity to interact with various stakeholders, but it has also provided a platform to obtain innovative ways of improving health delivery to the people of Gauteng, and we are committed to ensuring that this gathering is not just a talk shop," she said.
Other issues that delegates engages on at the forum included maternal mortality, the HIV counseling and testing campaign, the ARV roll-out plan and the strengthening of primary healthcare.
