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Free maternal health services lack adequate financing
and resources, Guinea.
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| Article Type: | Brief article |
| Subject: |
Maternal health services
(Laws, regulations and rules) Maternal health services (Government finance) Medical fees (Laws, regulations and rules) |
| Pub Date: | 05/01/2012 |
| Publication: | Name: Reproductive Health Matters Publisher: Elsevier Science Publishers Audience: General Format: Magazine/Journal Subject: Family and marriage; Health; Women's issues/gender studies Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2012 Reproductive Health Matters ISSN: 0968-8080 |
| Issue: | Date: May, 2012 Source Volume: 20 Source Issue: 39 |
| Topic: | Event Code: 930 Government regulation; 940 Government regulation (cont); 980 Legal issues & crime; 900 Government expenditures; 970 Government domestic functions Advertising Code: 94 Legal/Government Regulation Computer Subject: Government regulation |
| Geographic: | Geographic Scope: Guinea Geographic Name: Guinea Geographic Code: 6GUIN Guinea |
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| Accession Number: | 296571564 |
| Full Text: |
Guinea recently banned all childbirth fees, including for caesarean
delivery, in an attempt to speed up progress on Millennium Development
Goal 5. Guinea's maternal mortality ratio is 680 per 100,000 live
births. However, critics report that the plans are stalling due to poor
planning and lack of resources. No sustainable costing plan has been put
in place to pay for free health care. In 2011 less than 5% of the
national budget was allocated to the Ministry of Health, although this
is an improvement over the 2010 allocation of 2.5%. Evidence from other
countries has shown that abolishing user fees works only if there is a
plan in place to increase medical staff and equipment, to address
expected higher demand, and when there is a financial strategy to cover
costs. A health insurance scheme has been established, but it functions
on a very small scale. The ban on fees does not extend to antenatal or
post-partum care, further reducing the likelihood that the scheme will
have a positive impact. (1) (1.) Guinea: Free childbirth unsustainable, say critics. IRIN News, 11 November 2011. Doi: 10.1016/S0968-8080(12)39627-4 |
| Gale Copyright: | Copyright 2012 Gale, Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. |