A programme designed to dramatically reduce Zimbabwe's soaring maternal and child mortality rates has been launched by the country's deputy prime minister.
Thokhozani Khupe said the number of women who died while giving birth had trebled in recent years, now standing at around 725 in every 100,000.
He claimed the government would cut the rate by improving the availability and accessibility of quality healthcare in the face of the failure of other efforts.
"The launch comes at a time when maternal, neonatal and child health have reached emergency levels despite the existence of a plethora of global, regional and national efforts to address the challenges," a spokesman said.
"There is therefore an urgent need to increase efforts to accelerate effective co-ordination and implementation of high impact interventions targeted at turning off the tap of high maternal mortality in Zimbabwe."
Globally, around 500,000 women die every year while giving birth, the vast majority of them in Africa.
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