What We're Reading: NPR Reports on Maternal and Child Health in Mozambique
Posted by
Robert Yule
Washington, D.C.
July 1, 2011
This week, we’ve actually been doing more listening than reading – to NPR’s new global series on pregnancy and childbirth, called
“Beginnings.”
Melissa Block, the host of NPR’s All Things Considered, has been reporting from
Mozambique on issues affecting maternal and child health.
Mozambique has a severe shortage of doctors and health care workers, and some of the highest rates of maternal and child mortality in the world. Related to this, the country is also grappling with high rates of HIV for pregnant women and their children.
To learn more about programs that prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV, Melissa visited a Foundation-supported clinic in the town of Macia, in Gaza province in southern Mozambique.
She interviewed the Foundation’s Country Director for Mozambique, Nancy Fitch, about our work with the country’s Ministry of Health to prevent new infant HIV infections, keep their mothers healthy, and ultimately end pediatric AIDS.
Melissa also chronicled the stories of several mothers at the clinic, who were there to help ensure that their babies were born HIV-free.
Tune in to NPR’s All Things Considered next Wednesday, July 6, to hear this segment showcasing the Foundation’s work and our mission.
In the meantime, you can read and listen to a
preview of the series from Monday’s Morning Edition, as well as segments on
the dangers for mothers and newborns, and
attempts to prevent maternal death from excessive bleeding after birth.
Robert Yule is the Foundation’s Senior Media Relations Manager in Washington, D.C.