First Ladies' workshop

Zambia is hosting a two day workshop for the first ladies which began to day the 25th of November 2009 in Lusaka. The workshop is intended to empower first ladies within southern African Development community (SADC) with information on maternal health issues and develop a compressive SADC- sub regional plan of action.

According to childinfo.org globally more than half million women die each year because of the complications related to pregnancy and childbirth. About half of the maternal deaths (265,000) occurred in sub-Saharan Africa alone.

Zambian first lady Thadiwe Banda called on her counterparts to unite and ensure that proper breast feeding methods were promoted. She also said appropriate breastfeeding should be encouraged if lives of children were to be protected against mother to child transmission of HIV.

Hopefully this will be a fruitful workshop which will bring about strategies to reduce the high maternal deaths in Africa.