Morocco : 30 years of collaboration between USAID and the Ministry of Health -- a retrospective analysis : safe motherhood

For the other three reports, see PN-ACP-900 and PN- ACP-902/3. Since the 1970s, the MOH has shifted its primary focus in the area of safe motherhood from prenatal care to improving provider"s skills and medical conditions to manage obstetric complications in an effort to reduce maternal mortality. With USAID support, Morocco has taken serious steps over the past decade to decrease maternal mortality by improving clinical infrastructure for emergency obstetric care, changing public awareness and attitudes through entertaining mass media programs, and increasing the number of trained clinicians in the management of emergency obstetric complications. While the maternal mortality rate in Morocco has declined over the past two decades, it remains high for a country of its level of development, with over 200 deaths per 100,000 live births. USAID support to safe motherhood activities began with support to the family planning program. This was seen as one of the means of lowering maternal risk of death. Beginning in 1995, however, USAID funded safe motherhood activities apart from family planning and is largely recognized as the first donor in Morocco to support a pilot project aimed at increasing and improving access to emergency obstetric care. (Author abstract, modified)