UN Population Fund opens family health clinics in Manik Farm

UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, in collaboration with the Family Health Bureau of the Ministry of Healthcare and Nutrition and the Family Planning Association of Sri Lanka (FPASL), opened five family health clinics in five zones of the Manik Farm camp on 18th September at a ceremony attended by UNFPA Representative, Director of Family Health Bureau, Executive Director of FPASL and other health ministry officials.

The family health clinics will provide antenatal and postnatal exams, voluntary family planning, emergency deliveries by skilled birth attendants and psychosocial counselling, among other services. With an estimated 5,000 pregnant women in the camps, out of whom 400 will give birth within the next 4 weeks, the family health clinics will play a critical role in safeguarding the health of these women. Read more ...

UNFPA boosts its lifesaving support for pregnant women displaced by Sri Lanka conflict

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. Read more ...