I have worked in maternal child health for 35 years, mostly in the public sector, and have a question. How can a government that cannot ensure the continuous unbroken supply of antiretrovirals for pregnant and breastfeeding women, or sufficient gloves for midwives in primary health care, or a linen saver and maternity pad for every birth, think about rolling out a costly national health insurance (NHI) system?
Doing so will merely compound the challenging environment many midwives at primary health-care level struggle to work in. There are facilities that desperately need repair and maintenance, which affects the dignity of both the patients and health-care practitioners. Staff shortages are critical in maternity care and lead to the delivery of compromised, poor-quality care just because there are not enough hands to do the work...
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