In a long running campaign under the theme, Every Mother count, Stanbic Bank and MTN Uganda, have today donated various items to Kawempe National Referral Hospital in support of the government’s efforts to improve maternal health care services.
The campaign, which was initiated by Stanbic Bank two years ago, has seen several companies donate supplies and equipment in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal Three (SDG3) to accelerate the decline of maternal mortality by 2030.
In today’s donation, Stanbic Bank handed over 1,000 Mama Kits and 115 ward curtains to accord privacy to the ladies in the labour wards. MTN Uganda donated hospital equipment worth UGX106,000,000, including laryngoscopes, colposcopes, among other essential equipment.
Anne Juuko, the Stanbic Bank Chief Executive said, “Women’s health and survival during pregnancy and childbirth is a major concern worldwide. We still have cases of women in Uganda who die in labour and other childbirth-related complications. We launched the ‘Every Mother Counts’ campaign as part of our corporate social responsibilities to the communities in which we work, today we are pleased to see other socially responsible organizations like MTN Uganda joining to support this noble cause.”
MTN Uganda’s General Manager for Corporate Services, Enid Edroma said that the decision to partner with Stanbic bank on this initiative was in line with the telecom’s vision to uplift the lives of the people in the communities in which it operates.
“At the core of what we do as MTN is a heart for community transformation. We are happy to be here again to contribute to the welfare of the maternity section that we believe will go a long way to improve safe delivery in this hospital. This donation is an addition to MTN’s earlier intervention to Kawempe hospital done through the refurbishment of the NICU unit in 2020,” she said.
Dr. Ruth Achieng, the Minister of Health applauded Stanbic Bank, and its partners for complementing government efforts to improving maternal health services in the country especially now that high commodity prices are compromising purchasing power abilities for health services for mothers and those supporting them.
“Government cannot achieve everything without the support from the private sector. We thank Stanbic Bank and MTN for this contribution and implore you and other private sector players to continue with initiatives like this, to support government health facilities,” she said.
Kawempe Hospital has been the main beneficiary of the “Every Mother Counts” campaign because each month, it receives over 4,000 pregnant women from all over the country and delivers an average of 100 babies per day—the highest in the country.
Other organizations that have participated in the Stanbic Bank led campaign, include Uganda Communication Commission, VIVO Energy, Rubis, Rotary, Nile Breweries Limited, TotalEnergies, Uganda National Oil Company, ATC Uganda, Roofings Group, Liberty Life, and Uganda Breweries Limited.
According to the 2020/2021 Annual Health Sector Performance Report the number of maternal deaths reported by health facilities across the country increased by 126.4% (from 1,102 in FY19/20 to 1,228 in FY20/21) with a maternal mortality ratio of 92/100,000 with institutional maternal mortality ratio dropping from 108 to 92 per 100,000 deliveries in the last five years.