MUKONO, UGANDA – A job well done. And a job that’s far from done.
That’s one way to see UCU’s leadership in helping to fight the age-old scourge of death in childbirth, a scourge that kills more than half a million mothers and four million children every year worldwide, virtually all in the developing world.
The university’s role, through its five-year-old Save the Mothers (STM) Programme, was highlighted March 6 with a visit by Uganda’s First Lady, MP Janet Museveni, who heaped praises on UCU and STM for its efforts.
“I commend this university for its tremendous work with safe motherhood; for its training and for its sensitizing the public,” said Museveni during her third visit to UCU in three years, this time for STM’s Healthy Mothers, Healthy Nation initiative.
“Thank you for demonstrating that every life is special in God’s eyes. You’re not just living in an Ivory Tower as so many universities do. You are literally the salt of the Earth and change agents.”
In her address, Museveni touched on birth control twice as one way to help ensure Uganda’s mothers are at less risk.
“Childbirth is not to be done haphazardly, but in a planned manner,” she said. “Every family should plan concisely how many children to have.”
Appearing well-versed in other aspects of safe motherhood, she also spoke of the three deadly delays in care that keep mothers from safe deliveries; delays at home, during transport or at the clinic.