MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH CENTERS, OPERATIONAL PROGRAM

Special importance is given to helping rural areas, where 80% of the population lives; but the provision of appropriate services for the millions of city dwellers living in marginal conditions remains problematical. Poor communities are subject to rapid changes and fluctuations, presenting complex social problems. This description of the Maternal and Child Health Center program in Kinshasa, Zaire, was prepared with the intention of answering the questions of observers and visitors and of explaining the pragmatic methods that are applied. Kinshasa has over two million people and presents all the characteristics of a large tropical city. The sanitation services and public transport are often overburdened and underequipped. The hospital services are overcrowded. The Maternal and Child Health program was envisaged in a spirit of seeking practical solutions and of furthering decentralization of the ambulatory and maternity services which encumber the central hospitals. It is meant to be a pilot demonstration and training project in maternal and child health care. The report discusses the conception and development of the centers, the centers at Kinshasa, the under-five clinic, the pre-natal clinic, the maternity services, the desired births clinic, training of the nursing personnel, and the auxiliary services: pharmacy, laboratory, and sterilization.