Imatong State Ministry of Health has initiated a scientific research project that will look into issues of Mother-Child Health in partnership with Lacor Hospital in Gulu, northern Uganda.

The Mother Child Health Lacor South Sudan or MOCHELASS research project is estimated to cost one million Canadian dollars and will investigate and recommend problems making maternal mortality rate high in South Sudan.

The research is aimed at attaining accurate and locally generated information on how to improve health care.

Elijo Omoro, project principal investigator, says the research project will investigate and recommend to donors areas of improvement on the high maternal mortality rate in the area.

“The project is divided into two phases; there is a first phase which is formative and then the second phase which will be the implementation of the recommended interventions,” Mr Omoro told Eye Radio.

“Now we are trying to collect some basic information as a baseline so that we are able to design interventions.”

The project will run for five years in the two areas of Uganda and South Sudan.

The Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) in South Sudan is 2,054 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, according to the UN.

Each mother in South Sudan has a one in seven chance of dying during her lifetime.

This high MMR is related to South Sudan’s high child mortality rate — 25 percent of South Sudanese children die before their fifth birthday.

However, the high MMR has been attributed to rampant poverty and lack of trained midwives.