NCD-associated health conditions among prevalent causes of maternal death - Dr Zaliha
07 Jul 2023 09:54pm
Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa. Bernama FILE PIX
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She said a study conducted from 2019 to 2021 recorded the highest maternal mortality rate on a three-year average, mostly due to NCD-associated medical conditions and post-partum haemorrhage.
"Among mothers with NCD-associated medical conditions, more than 50 per cent of deaths were due to heart diseases.
"In addition, obesity was the main risk factor found among maternal deaths due to Pulmonary Embolism after Caesarean Section,” she said during her presentation at the 56th Malaysia Singapore Congress of Medicine which was held in conjunction with MyWomen International Congress 2023, here today.
Dr Zaliha said in order to reduce the maternal mortality rate, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has been strengthening the pre-pregnancy care (PPC) and venous thromboembolism (VTE) risk assessment and prescribing thromboprophylaxis for pregnant women.
On another development, the minister said as of June, there have been 105,789 individuals who had undergone health screenings at MOH facilities under the National Health Screening Initiative, a year into the programme since it was launched in July last year.
Interestingly, she said out of the 105,789 individuals, 58,441 or 55.24 per cent of them are women, and it indicated better health-seeking behaviours among women nowadays.
"The number of women screened by state is more than 50 per cent with Selangor having the highest screening rate (61.9 per cent ) while Penang has the lowest screening rate at 55.5 per cent,” she added. - BERNAMA
