SNS Director establishes zero tolerance for preventable maternal and infant mortality

Santo Domingo. – The executive director of the National Health Service (SNS), Dr. Julio Landrón, began a tour of the country’s maternity hospitals, accompanied by the Maternal and Child Health Directorate team, with the purpose of strengthening actions aimed at guaranteeing safe, timely, and humanized care for mothers and newborns.

The tour began at the Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia Maternity Hospital, where the head of the SNS spoke with resident physicians, specialists, pediatricians, nursing staff, and other collaborators, whom he called upon to assume with the utmost responsibility the commitment to preserve the life of every mother and every newborn.

Landrón expressed zero tolerance for preventable maternal and infant mortality and urged health personnel to strictly comply with the established protocols for the management of the different conditions that may arise during pregnancy, childbirth, the puerperium, and newborn care.

“We cannot allow a mother or a child to die from a preventable cause. The Public Health Network has all the necessary equipment, instruments, and medications to be able to preserve the lives of expectant mothers and newborn children,” stated the executive director of the SNS.

In that sense, he highlighted that the public health system has the necessary resources to respond in a timely manner to obstetric and neonatal emergencies, for which he urged strengthening clinical surveillance and the rigorous application of care guidelines and protocols.

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“We have the best human resources in all of Latin America; our doctors are the best prepared, most of them with subspecialties and the necessary skills to face the different situations that arise in our maternity hospitals.”

The official also highlighted the transformation experienced by the Public Network and the improvements achieved in hospital management, which have allowed for the strengthening of the financial conditions of maternity wards and hospitals that provide maternal and child care.

“All maternity hospitals in the country, including the Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia Maternity Hospital, the Los Mina Maternity Hospital, and the Reynaldo Almánzar, have financial stability as never seen before. There are no excuses for a mother or a newborn to lose their life due to any type of deficiency,” he emphasized.

Landrón instructed to intensify hygiene and biosecurity controls in the areas where expectant mothers, newborns, and babies are attended, with special emphasis on compliance with infection prevention and control measures.

He also ordered to reinforce the surveillance of the crops in the different areas, as well as the proper functioning of the equipment used for water treatment and sterilization, in addition to guaranteeing compliance with cleaning and disinfection processes.

The director of the SNS emphasized the importance of proper and frequent handwashing by all health personnel, as one of the main measures to prevent healthcare-associated infections and protect both mothers and newborns.

Landrón reported that these visits will continue in the different maternity hospitals across the national territory, as part of a direct monitoring strategy to identify opportunities for improvement, strengthen services, and ensure compliance with established standards.