DGHS holds experience sharing event on maternal healthcare in Manikganj

A day-long learning and experience sharing event on Quality Improvement for Maternal and Newborns healthcare was held on  Thursday in Shibalaya Upazila of Manikganj. 

The event was jointly organised by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) and the Directorate General of Family Planning (DGFP) under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOH&FW). 

The event was facilitated by Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) with support from USAID's MaMoni MNCSP project, Save the Children.

 The event's main objectives were to share the success stories, to reflect on the journey, and to have a refreshers session for all the representatives of the participating health facilities. 

Based on the WHO framework, the Quality for Care (QoC) model enabled Manikganj to improve the healthcare to maternal and newborns in the Manikganj district and increased the number of participating health facilities exponentially. At the date, a total of 38 health facilities covers all the upazilas of Manikganj district. 

The participating health facilities received honorary awards for their excellent contributions to improving the district's mothers' and newborns' health facilities during the event.

Manikganj Civil Surgeon Dr Md Anwarul Amin Akanda chaired the event and mentioned that the only goal is to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality, which requires quality improvement. Mommy is cooperating to improve this.

In the welcome speech Dr Md Arshadullah Superintendent, 250 Bed General Hospital, Manikganj stated with the launch of Quality Services we can evaluate the quality of our services from time to time, especially every week.

More than 100 participants attended the event. Md Golam Nobi, deputy director at Family Planning, Manikganj; Dr Farid Uddin, deputy director (Services) and Program Manager Newborn and Child Health MCH – Services Unit, DGFP; Dr Mohammad Farid Uddin Mia, director at Hospital and Clinic Section; Dr Md Akhteruzzaman Joint Secretary & Program Manager at Health Economics Unit & Focal Person Quality Improvement Secretariat and local government health officials, and USAID's MaMoni MNCSP officials were also present at the event.

 The US government, through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), has provided more than $8 billion in development assistance to Bangladesh since its independence.  

Additionally, the US government has committed $96 million of assistance from multiple agencies to support Covid-19 response efforts.  

In 2020, USAID alone provided over $200 million to improve the lives of people in Bangladesh through programs that expand food security and economic opportunity, improve health and education, promote democratic institutions and practices, protect the environment, and increase resilience to climate change.