A 42 years old mother of five children died with her still-born twins early 2019 at Castle Hospital and media published sensationalized reports about the incident. The mother had 14 years old son and two daughters nine and four years old.
Husband of the deceased person blamed medical negligence for the death. Hospital authorities stated that a formal inquiry would be held regarding the death. The husband of the deceased woman said to media that his wife had been prepared for Caesarean section and given medication for hyperglycemia before she suddenly succumbed to a respiratory failure. The attempts by the doctors to save the lives of the unborn twins failed.
However, in this story, we are focusing to the problem of maternal mortality in Sri Lanka.
According to the Maternal Mortality Report of the Ministry of Health for 2016, the number of maternal deaths that had occured during the year was 112. Accordingly, Maternal Mortality Rate of the year is 33.8%, recording the best performance among the countries in South Asia. However, Sri Lanka's Maternal Mortality Rate has remained unchanged for the past seven years, despite all attempts by the health authorities to improve the conditions.
Direct maternal deaths recorded as 55% in 2016. The three main reasons for the maternal deaths were postpartum hemorrhage, complications related to placenta previa and heart diseases. 43% of the deceased mothers had not obtained medical advise timely or they had not been admitted to hospital. Delays the health staff must be responsible are attributed to 44 deaths. 20 mothers died because they failed to use proper family planning methods. The report mentions that 55% of the maternal deaths could have been avoided.
Health authorities claim that all maternal or post-natal deaths that occur in the country are comprehensively investigated on a basis of fact finding and analysing the situation without penalizing anyone. Health staffs at hospital, district and national levels take part in these investigations. Associations of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, anesthesiologistss and Judicial Medical Officers provide technical support for the investigations.
For some reason, 10% of Sri Lankan pregnant women are still not visited by midwives at least once a month, according to the 2015 facts of Family Health Bureau. 5% of pregnant women do not visit clinics at least once before delivery.
In 1948, Sri Lanka recorded as much as 1700 maternal deaths per annum. Conditions have improved immensely but further improvements depend on challenging actions and developments.
iVoice Idea Competition
iVoice is an online platform that encourages youth to discuss social issues and to drive innovative solutions. The platform features stories relating to social issues in Sri Lanka, which are submitted by iVoice contributors and the general public.
The objective of the iVoice Idea Competition is to encourage youth to play a participatory role in solving social issues. After reading a story featured on iVoice, youth can submit their ‘idea’ to help to address the social issue that is highlighted in the story. The ten best ideas will receive seed capital of Rs. 100,000/- each, and mentoring, to support in implementing their ideas.
The majority of articles featured on iVoice relate to a social issue. These stories have a ‘Submit Your Idea’ button at the end of the article, inviting youth to share their innovative ideas on how to address these social issues.
Submitted ideas must be innovative and unique. The ideas must also be practical and implementable by 31 December 2017.
The deadline for submitting an idea is 3 September 2017.
To submit an idea, the following details must be provided through the online form:
Note: Participants can submit any number of ideas; however, only one idea per article is permitted.
Ideas will be evaluated through a competitive process.
03 Sept 2017: Closing of submissions at 23:59 on 3 September 2017
06 Sept 2017: Shortlisting of 20 ideas
13 Sept 2017: Shortlisted applicants to present their ideas in further detail to the judging panel
21 Sept 2017: The ten winning ideas will be announced at the Award Ceremony at which Rs. 100,000/- seed capital will be granted to each of the winning applicants
Evaluation criteria includes creativity of the proposed idea to address the given social issue, and feasibility of implementation within the stipulated budget and timeframe.
The number of votes received per idea will not be a deciding factor.
The judging panel’s decision will be final.
iVoice Idea Competition
iVoice is an online platform that encourages youth to discuss social issues and to drive innovative solutions. The platform features stories relating to social issues in Sri Lanka, which are submitted by iVoice contributors and the general public.
The objective of the iVoice Idea Competition is to encourage youth to play a participatory role in solving social issues. After reading a story featured on iVoice, youth can submit their ‘idea’ to help to address the social issue that is highlighted in the story. The ten best ideas will receive seed capital of Rs. 100,000/- each, and mentoring, to support in implementing their ideas.
The majority of articles featured on iVoice relate to a social issue. These stories have a ‘Submit Your Idea’ button at the end of the article, inviting youth to share their innovative ideas on how to address these social issues.
Submitted ideas must be innovative and unique. The ideas must also be practical and implementable by 31 December 2017.
The deadline for submitting an idea is 3 September 2017.
To submit an idea, the following details must be provided through the online form:
Note: Participants can submit any number of ideas; however, only one idea per article is permitted.
Ideas will be evaluated through a competitive process.
03 Sept 2017: Closing of submissions at 23:59 on 3 September 2017
06 Sept 2017: Shortlisting of 20 ideas
13 Sept 2017: Shortlisted applicants to present their ideas in further detail to the judging panel
21 Sept 2017: The ten winning ideas will be announced at the Award Ceremony at which Rs. 100,000/- seed capital will be granted to each of the winning applicants
Evaluation criteria includes creativity of the proposed idea to address the given social issue, and feasibility of implementation within the stipulated budget and timeframe.
The number of votes received per idea will not be a deciding factor.
The judging panel’s decision will be final.
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