The PSD parliamentary group this Wednesday submitted a request “with urgency” to the Assembly of the Republic for the maternal mortality report to be released. According to the Social Democrats, the executive promised to send the document by the end of July, but that has not happened. The report, the 12 signatory delegates explain, refers to the 2017/18 biennium reportedly completed as of 2020, and asks the government to disclose the “equivalent information reported on maternal mortality for the period 2019 to 2021.” to make.
In the question to the Minister of Health, PSD deputies claim that “on July 19” the Director General of Health, Graça Freitas, was confronted with the situation, after asking to “see for a few days if there are any spelling mistakes” So far, the conclusions of the document, made by a committee set up especially for this purpose, after the Directorate-General for Health (DGS) was confronted with the situation, are unknown.
For Ricardo Baptista Leite, “the report is expected to qualify the reasons for so many maternal deaths”.
In 2020, the figure was 20,100 deaths per 100,000 births – the highest figure in 38 years – but the numbers have risen “significantly” in recent years. For example, in 2017 there were 12.8 deaths for the same number of births and 17.2 in 2018. With this, the deputy hopes that the report “can also make recommendations that, it is hoped, are already being applied” in the health services.
Speaking to the DN, Deputy Ricardo Baptista Leite defends that “maternal mortality should be analyzed accurately. Not only in the case of pregnant women, but also as an indicator of the quality of the health system” and, in recent years, “For a few years now, there has been a growing trend in maternal mortality and that is of great concern.”
When asked by the DN whether the report should include deaths in public or in private, the Social Democrat is clear: “The report is expected to provide conclusions about maternal mortality as a whole, regardless of the health system.”
With Marta Temido leaving and leaving the Health portfolio in the near future (she has not yet been relieved of her duties), the PSD hopes this will not affect the distribution of the document. “The Minister will leave, but the Director-General of Health will remain in office. Therefore, it is imperative that, even with this changing situation in the Ministry, the disclosure of the report is not jeopardized,” defends Ricardo Baptista Leite.
Source: DN
