Yesterday Minister of Health, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, officially opened the Safe Motherhood Photography exhibition at the National Library.During a simple opening ceremony at the National Library the winner of the Safe Motherhood Photography contest,Tyson Jackson Falcons Jersey, Amanda Richards,Edson Puch Chile Jersey, was presented with a US$1,Mike Mitchell Steelers Jersey,000 cheque.The contest was designed to put the issue of maternal health and neonatal health on the political and public agenda in the region.Apart from the local contest, there was one held regionally. The best picture was judged based on its illustration of promotion and protection of the right to the enjoyment of highest attainable standard for women, mothers and newborns.Health Minister Dr. Leslie Ramsammy and other officials during the ribbon cutting ceremony at the opening of the exhibition. In an overview of the programme, Director,Kevin Faulk Patriots Jersey UK, Maternal and Child Health, Dr. Janice Woolford, said that this year will mark 24 years since the launch of the Safe Motherhood Initiative (SMI). According to Dr. Woolford the initiative is an international effort to raise awareness of the scope and dimensions of maternal mortality and to galvanise commitment among governments, donors, United Nations (UN) agencies,Logan Ryan Patriots Jersey UK, and other relevant stakeholders to take steps to address this public health tragedy.Giving a brief history of the initiative Dr. Woolford said that in 1987, when health experts, development professionals,Morgan Burnett Packers Jersey, and policymakers gathered in Nairobi to inaugurate the global initiative, maternal mortality was not a major national or international priority.“At the Nairobi meeting, a group of international agencies launched a global movement, the Safe Motherhood Initiative, whose aim was to reduce the burden of maternal death and ill health in developing countries”.She added that later that year the Safe Motherhood Inter-Agency Group was established to realise the initiative’s goals. Dr. Woolford added that records will show that from 1990 to 2008, the Latin America and Caribbean region reduced its maternal mortality rate by nearly 41 per cent.She noted that there still is a long way to go to meet the objective of obtaining a 75 per cent reduction by 2015,Vic Beasley Jr Falcons Jersey, the commitment made by 189 countries around the world to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).Studies estimate that one million pregnant women give birth unattended by skilled personnel and that 744,000 women do not receive any prenatal care. According to these studies,Randall Cobb Packers Jersey UK, 9,200 women die each year in Latin America and the Caribbean from complications of pregnancy.Yesterday’s event was endorsed by Dr. Beverley Barnett of the World Health Organisation and the Pan American Health Organisation, and Mr. Derven Patrick, Public Health Specialist, United Nations Population Funds (UNFPA).Health Minister Dr. Leslie Ramsammy stated that his Ministry has committed to health for all. “As part of that commitment we had promised that basic antenatal care and the continued care from pre-conception to post natal care would be available to every family.”The minister pointed to the fact that while the Health Ministry is closer to achieving the Millennium Development Goal there still is a lot to achieve as it relates to maternal health.“We made a promise that health for all will allow us to bring better health care for women, enable women to have safe pregnancy and the delivery of our babies safely and eventually have them live safely into adulthood”.