The United States government has donated RD$42 million in medical equipment to the Ministry of Public Health to reduce infant and maternal mortality at public hospitals. The equipment will be installed at the San Lorenzo de los Mina Maternity Hospital. The Los Mina hospital records what is estimated as the highest number of cases of births by impoverished Haitian women in Santo Domingo.
The donation comes under the Maternity Centers of Excellence program that began in 2009 and finishes this year, with financial support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
The five-year project has benefitted 10 public hospitals around the country with a total investment of RD$651 million.
US Ambassador James Brewster highlighted the success of the program and said that the United States government would continue to support the Dominican Republic in a series of development programs, especially health-related, to improve the local quality of life.
Public Health Minister Freddy Hidalgo thanked him for the donation and said that he hoped the project could be extended to another 26 maternity hospitals to help decrease maternal and infant mortality rates.
www.listindiario.com/la-republica/2014/3/17/314688/Embajada-de-Estados-Unidos-dona-a-Salud-Publica-equipos-valorados-en-42-MM