Transcript
SHARRON BOLITHO: I was blown away by the difficult circumstances that people work in. The heavy work load and the limited resources and the amazing job that people do. And I learned any awful lot when I was up there. I also found that this particular style of training which has a focus on how we work together as a multi-disciplinary team of midwives and doctors in particular, was really well suited to a Pacific environment and quite warmly embraced. We did a lot of the training involves running scenarios or role plays and that practical component was enjoyed I think and received and I think people felt that they learned quite a lot from that as opposed to sitting listening to someone talking. And I think that was very helpful and the local staff were very enthusiastic about the program. And we are hopeful that it will be very useful in their day to day practice.
KOROI HAWKINS: You mentioned progress being made in this area around the region. But what are the difficulties, what is the current status of the challenges that are faced?
SB: Okay so to give you some idea of figures for comparison. In New Zealand we count maternal mortality in deaths per hundred thousand births and in New Zealand it would be around 15 per 100 thousand. And looking at the latest WHO figures for Papua New Guinea it would be about 200 per hundred thousand, Kiribati around 100 Fiji around 30. So compared with countries with satisfactory resources the maternal mortality is relatively high. But it varies a lot across the Pacific. Some countries it is higher than others.
KH: And is this mostly due to a lack of training or facilities as well?
SB: There is a whole mixture of things we talk about the three delays of care model where it can be a delay for the women seeking help, difficulties in transport to the health facility and then the third delay is around what is available from a resource and staff point of view in the facility. It is a combination of all of those things but on a world wide basis. WHO says about 80 percent of maternal deaths are potentially avoidable. A lot, majority are from what we call postpartum haemorrhage. So bleeding after the birth and that in particular is one that with some skilled assistance available able to be treated.
KH: So hopefully you will be able to address at least one of those three delays with the training and getting them to train themselves in the Pacific as well.
SB: Absolutely so this the PEMNet training addresses the third delay which is the skills of the team that are there and I must say there is, there are great skills there are great resources great people working in the Pacific. I think it is often difficult to get time off for training and the support for that. So it is to help with the training so that we are more efficient in managing the emergency situations which happen . This type of program is in New Zealand recommended by the ministry of health that all our units train in this particular style to address these types of emergencies as well. And no matter where we are in the world I think this type of training particularly the practical aspects does make a difference to the care we are able to give.
KH: Where is the program active and how long will it be going for?
SB: Okay so the aim is for it to be sustainable on into the future. There have been other and there are some other very excellent maternal and neo-natal emergency training courses that have been throughout the Pacific. This course has arisen out of the Pacific society of reproductive health with the aim of having some consistency about what is taught across the Pacific and how we all practice together. A lot of staff will travel around different islands and having some consistency is important. So just at the start of last year we have done training of the trainers and that was in Auckland in July and was funded by NZaid and MFAT to facilitate a doctor and a midwife from each Pacific country coming and having the training and then they have gone back to their own member countries. And at least six people have started doing the program.
KH: For Pacific governments and Pacific countries themselves what can they do to support the program?
SB: I think one of the really key things is releasing the staff who are going to be running the program. Because you need to set up a whole team to be able to be really well trained so that they are confident to run the program for their country. And also for each of the health facilities that they see it as a priority to release their staff to be able to attend this type of training because it really does make a difference.
