Press Release
UNFPA Boosts its Lifesaving Support for Pregnant Women Displaced by Sri Lanka Conflict
07 May 2009
COLOMBO – At least 3,000 pregnant women have fled the fighting in northern Sri Lanka in recent days and some 350 of them will give birth in the next month, according to estimates by UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund. With health services increasingly challenged by the influx of internally displaced persons, UNFPA is stepping up its support for the health and safety of women and girls affected by the conflict, particularly those who are pregnant.
Typically, around 15 per cent of women giving birth will develop complications that require blood transfusions or emergency surgical care. Pregnancy-related disabilities and death often rise in conflict situations when reproductive health services are disrupted.
The number of displaced persons in camps run by the Sri Lankan Government rose from 65,000 to 190,000 in just a few days after a mass civilian exodus from the combat zone on 20 April.
In response, UNFPA is expanding its support for mobile reproductive health clinics offering prenatal and post-natal care, services for the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases and HIV, and psychosocial counselling. Since December 2008, 139 mobile clinic sessions have been conducted in Vavuniya and Mannar, serving 5,550 people.
The Fund will continue distributing personal hygiene packs for displaced women and girls, maternity kits for pregnant women, and reproductive health supplies for hospitals providing emergency life-saving care for pregnant women.
Crowded conditions in hospitals and camps can compromise the health of both mothers and newborns. To ease overcrowding, UNFPA has furnished a ward at the Ayurvedic Hospital in Paipeymadu Vavuniya, where displaced mothers and newborns can receive post-delivery care. In special cases, their small children and caregivers are now being allowed to accompany the mothers.
After visiting several camps in Vavuniya recently, the UNFPA Representative in Sri Lanka, Lene K. Christiansen, said, “In this overwhelming situation, it is important that women’s specific health concerns, from their hygiene needs to life-threatening complications related to pregnancy and childbirth, are not overlooked.”
This week, the United Nations and the Government of Sri Lanka launched an appeal for $50 million to meet the most immediate humanitarian needs of civilians fleeing fighting in the north. As part of that joint appeal, UNFPA hopes to secure $1 million to step up its response to the crisis.
Contact Information:
Colombo:
Lankani Sikurajapathy
+11 2580840
sikurajapathy@unfpa.org
William A. Ryan
+66 2 687 0118
ryanw@unfpa.org
New York:
Omar Gharzeddine
+1 212 297 5028
gharzeddine@unfpa.org
