IntraHealth International to Lead $4.9 Million Health Workforce Strengthening Effort in Mali

Photograph by Trevor Snapp for IntraHealth InternationalJuly 17, 2017Through a new $4.9 million, three-year award from the US Agency for International Development,IntraHealth International will partner with the government of Mali to strengthen its health workforce, scale up progress in maternal and child survival, and protect its citizens from emerging health threats such as Ebola and pandemic influenza.Mali has significantly reduced itsmaternal,newborn, andunder-five mortality rates in the last twenty years. But despite these efforts, the country continues to have some of the highest rates of preventable maternal and child deaths in the world, due in part to a severe shortage of qualified health workers. This same shortage also makes Mali vulnerable to emerging infectious diseases and other health security threats.The World Health Organization recommends at least 2.3 doctors, nurses, and midwives per 1,000 people to provide basic health services, but Mali has only 0.41 per 1,000 people. Recruitment and retention in rural and peri-urban areas are ongoing challenges exacerbated by Mali ’s fast-growing population (which has anannual growth rate of 3%) and the ongoing instability and conflict in the northern part of the country. Most qualified health workers are concentrated in Bamako and other urban areas.The USAID/Mali Human Resources for Health Strengthening Activity will help build a strong and connected health workforce to realize Mali ’s 10-year health and social devel...

Source: IntraHealth International - July 17, 2017 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: intrahealth Source Type: news