Opposition spokesperson on health and wellness, Dr Alfred Dawes, is lamenting an increase in maternal and child mortality.

“Over the last eight years, we have seen a steady climb in the number of mothers dying during pregnancy and delivery. The maternal mortality rate is the highest it has been in over 30 years. The neonatal mortality rate is higher today than it was 20 years ago. The number of children under the age five who are dying is higher than it was 20 years ago,” Dawes stated despite not providing any evidence to support his claims.

The opposition spokespersons who made the comments during a press conference on Wednesday (June 19), said the increase in maternal and neonatal mortality rates is the consequence of the failure of the country’s healthcare system.

“The stories that we are seeing are not unexpected because they reflect a systematic issue, and a big part of that systematic problem is that we have a maintenance issue and an accountability issue,” Dawes said.

Dawes says the Programme for the Reduction of Maternal and Child Mortality (PROMAC) was conceptualised under the People’s National Party (PNP) administration to combat infant and maternal mortality but was not maintained under the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) administration.

“PROMAC was the programme for the reduction of childbirth and maternity. It was conceptualised to support the achievement of the millennial and development goals, which looked at reductions in maternal deaths, the deaths of mothers and child mortality deaths, infants dying, and children under five dying, and it was supported with a grant of €$22 million (just under J$4 billion),” argued Dawes.

The implementation documents were signed as far back as 2013. 

“We at that time wanted to reduce the incidents of maternal deaths and child deaths through the development of screening, but not just that they can operate theatres, as well as ICU facilities or HDU facilities island-wide, so that if there was a baby who needed ventilation or a mother who needed ventilation, there would have been enough HDU spaces to accommodate them at least for a few hours until they could be transferred to another institution,” he continued.

The shadow minister said targeted facilities that should have benefited from the programme include the Mandeville Regional, Victoria Jubilee, Cornwall Regional, Bustamante Hospital for Children, Spanish Town, St Ann’s Bay, Chapelton Community and Alexandria Community hospitals, as well as the Savanna-la-Mar, Mandeville, Annotto Bay, and the St Jago Park health centres.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Jamaica saw an increase in its maternal mortality ratewhich was over 200 per 100,000 live births each year. This is an increase compared to the 100 per 100,000 live births recorded in 2016.

The country’s neonatal mortality rate increased from 9.2 per 100,000 live births in 2000 to 14.6 per 100,000 the following year. Meanwhile, the infant mortality rate moved from 13.2 to 17.7 per 100,000 live births.