Govt to launch US$3M incentive scheme to help reduce child mortality

TIMES INT'L

Government will soon implement a US$3million incentive scheme for mothers as part of ongoing efforts to reduce the country’s maternal and child mortality rates.

Health Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy said this new initiative in nutrition will see pregnant women and mothers receiving up to US$90 for getting registered into a clinic.

“These components include the implementation of a monetary incentive scheme to encourage the enrollment of pregnant women to antenatal care during their first trimester, and to motivate mothers to bring infants regularly to health clinics during the first six months after birth,” Ramsammy explained in a statement.

According to him, the four-year project is expected to benefit about 15,000 mothers per month at full registration in about 350 health centres. The beneficiaries are pregnant women, women up to six months after delivery, and children two to six months old. The procedure will allow these women three disbursements of US$30 each, for a total of US$90 (equal to Gy$18,000). One will be given to mothers before birth, and two after the child is born.

“Disbursement will be done by means of a coupon worth Gy$6,000 which will be given to the mother by the health facilities and would be exchanged for cash at a Local Government office,” Dr Ramsammy explained.

Training and registration of beneficiaries to build the electronic database has commenced, as the programme is set to begin in August.

Recently, Guyana came under criticism for an increase in its maternal mortality rate, which some say could threaten the country’s achievement of the related Millennium Development Goal (MDG). In 2010, more than 10 mothers died in child’s birth.

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