Health System Strengthening
Health system strengthening aims to develop the capacity of low-income countries to plan, manage and deliver high-quality healthcare equally within communities.
The World Health Organisation states that an effective healthcare system needs access to qualified staff, funds, information, supplies, transport, communications and overall guidance and direction, and it has to provide services that are responsive and equitable.
In low-income countries it is often the wealthy that have greater access to affordable healthcare, resulting in low equity of care. Even if people can access health services, the facilities often fail to meet people’s needs, due to a lack of resources and trained staff.
Women and Children First works to improve the knowledge and skills of healthcare staff who are providing maternal and newborn health services. Women and Children First assists in developing teaching materials and training all cadres of healthcare staff including midwives, community healthcare workers and traditional birth attendants.
Saving Lives
Over a quarter of a million women and three million newborn babies die each year in pregnancy and childbirth or soon afterwards, the majority of them in Africa and South Asia. For every woman who dies at least twenty more suffer complications which leave them with lifelong disability and pain.
Our unique programmes are saving the lives of mothers and babies every day. We need you to help us to equip women with their most vital survival tool: knowledge.
