On the 24th June 2021, as part of World Health Organization Eritrea support to Ministry of Health for the continuity of essential health services on Maternal and Newborn health, WHO Eritrea delivered vital Infection prevention and Control (IPC) equipment, that will significantly contribute to the effectiveness of Infection prevention and Control Interventions in the Eritrean Maternity Waiting Homes that valued at 162,000.00 Nakfa.

Maternity waiting homes are residential facilities where women living remotely stays before giving birth at health facilities and were introduced as a strategy in 2007 in hard to reach regions of Southern Red Sea supported by WHO. This is to strengthen the capacity to increase facility delivery for women living in remote geographic areas.

Remarking, the best practices of Eritrea in reducing maternal and child mortality rate, strengthening the Maternity Waiting Homes will play role in maintaining the remarkable achievements. Thus, these essential equipments include twelve Washing Machines of 14 kilograms capacity and will be distributed to the twelve maternity waiting homes in the Southern Red Sea which is a remote area of the country. They are expected to supplement the ongoing effort to the Infection prevention and Control Interventions especially during the COVID-19 pandemic era.