DUSHANBE, October 24, 2014, Asia-Plus — Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, who is of the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe, yesterday visited the resource Training Center under the Pediatric Institute at the National Medical Center in Dushanbe.
The WHO Regional Director for Europe Zsuzsanna Jakab and the Minister of Health of Tajikistan Nusratullo Fayzullo accompanied her on the visit to the center. The Crown Princess got acquainted with the center’s activities.
Yesterday, Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Mary of Denmark also visited a child rehabilitation centre and a district hospital in the Varzob, where she launched an immunization day.
Today, the Crown Princess is expected to visit the Tajik Medical University, where she will address a health forum, the national reproductive centre and the rural health center in the Vahdat Township.
Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Mary of Denmark will leave Tajikistan on October 25. According to WHO, the main purpose of the visit was for the Crown Princess to advocate increased regional and national investment in maternal and child health and stronger immunization efforts.
Press release issued by WHO notes that average rates of maternal mortality in countries of the WHO European Region have declined from an estimated 35 deaths per 100 000 live births in 1990 to 16 in 2013. Nevertheless, there is a forty-fold difference between the countries with highest and lowest national rates in the Region.
The European Region reportedly includes not only countries with the lowest infant and child mortality rates in the world but also those with rates that are 25 times higher. Every year, more than 160 000 children in Europe die before the age of 5, 40% of them in the first month of life.
The European Region’s success with immunization sustained some hard blows in the last 5 years. For example, the number of measles cases rose from 7100 in 2007 to almost 32 000 in 2013. The Region’s goal of eliminating measles and rubella by 2015, deemed achievable when set, is now severely threatened. In addition, many countries’ risk of importing poliomyelitis has been upgraded.
