MARAWI CITY, Lanao del Sur, July 19 (PIA) -- The Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO) here will continue to work hard to further lower the infant mortality rate in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
This was the response of IPHO Chief Dr. Alinader Minalang to the results of the 2011 Family Health Survey conducted by the National Statistics Office (NSO) which showed that ARMM surpassed the international standard of 19 deaths for every 1,000 live births by the end of 2015 set under the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
According to the survey, ARMM posted the lowest infant mortality rate of 18 deaths for every 1,000 live births among the 17 regions in the country.
"With this development, the challenge for us in the ARMM is how to maintain this status or even bring down the rate to 15 deaths by 2015," he said.
But Minalang is optimistic that they can meet the target by stepping-up efforts on educating the Muslim population on maternal and child health.
He said one of the reasons that led to lower infant mortality rate in Muslim Mindanao was the intensified health education campaign that they have conducted which resulted to more infants delivered at health facilities by skilled health attendants.
The training of health workers as well as the increasing number of accredited health facilities and emergency maternal obstetrics centers (EMOCs) which improved access to maternal and child health services were among the contributors of low mortality rate in the region, particularly in the province.
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