Corporate Buzz: Intel and UNFPA Increase Training and Technology to Improve Maternal Health

By: Smita Gaith, Communications and Program Intern

Intel Corporation and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) have recently announced their partnership to increase skills and knowledge of health workers around the world. The joint endeavor is part of Intel’s efforts to maintain and build on its commitment to the United Nations’ Every Woman, Every Child initiative, which is focused on training 1 million community health workers by 2015.

The UN estimates that every year 360,000 women die in in pregnancy or childbirth, and 2 million babies die within 24 hours of birth. Increased access to well-trained health workers could prevent many of these deaths. With this goal in mind, the joint effort by UNFPA and Intel will focus on increasing and improving the technical capacities of midwives and community health workers. For now, this collaboration will pilot in India, Bangladesh, and Ghana, which all experience some of the highest rates of maternal and newborn mortality. 

The partnership is expected to increase the skills and quality of services provided by health workers. The Intel skoool™ Health Education Platform will play a role in making content delivery easy and accessible for midwives and other community health workers. Intel will also be working directly with governments to decrease the costs of technology and encourage its use in order to improve health. The UNFPA’s role will be to work with in-country and international partners to improve the quality of training materials, and to encourage program sustainability and growth by involving national stakeholders.

To learn more about this collaborative effort, read the UNFPA press release here.

Flickr photograph courtesy of Save the Children