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Midwives from across Pakistan recognised

* 238 students awarded certificates of participation in diploma

KARACHI: With family, teachers, friends and other guests in attendance, 238 female students from across Pakistan were awarded certificates of participation in “Diploma in Midwifery Education” at the graduation ceremony of midwifery schools.

The event was managed by the Aga Khan Health Service, Pakistan (AKHSP), at a local hotel. The students registered for the year 2006, 2007 and 2008 were recognized as midwives and vanguards of quality healthcare, especially catering to the mother and child health care needs.

Aga Khan Health Services is an agency of the Aga Khan Development Network, having programs designed to reach out to the most vulnerable groups of the society with a focus on mother and child health. In Pakistan, AKHSP operates four Midwifery diploma training schools, three in Karachi and one in Hyderabad. On an average, 25 students are enrolled annually at each school, with more than 80 graduating each year. Since the schools were formed in1968, 3,952 midwives have graduated from the Aga Khan Health Service, Pakistan midwifery schools.

On the occasion, Princess Zahra Aga Khan, daughter of His Highness the Aga Khan, in her video address, said that the Community Midwifery Program is a source of great pride and honour for the network. “Midwives are the backbone and frontline of medical services. They are the ones who go out to the communities and carry their knowledge with them to save lives, wherever they go. They work tirelessly in the cold of winter and the heat of summer; despite often trying circumstances, isolation and loneliness to bring comfort to the most remote rural homes, villages and families. This is indeed a noble profession,” she said. Princess Zahra further said that, “There is good evidence to show that the Community Midwifery Program has had a huge impact on the standards of the living and mortality rates in the Northern Areas and Chitral during the last 20 years. I welcome you to the rank of a Midwife to do this important work. You are the next generation of women to have this phenomenal impact on society.”

Addressing the gathering, Pakistan Nursing Council Registrar Nighat Durani, the chief guest on the occasion, highlighted the importance of midwives and said that this profession has gained both acceptance and recognition in society and women are now identified as an economically productive member of society. On AKHSP’s role in promoting midwifery education, Durani said that AKHSP has not just been the pioneer of quality health care in Pakistan but also the pioneers of women education in Pakistan. “ It is easy to achieve and difficult to maintain, but achieving the top positions on a continuous basis for the last many years in Midwifery exams is testament to the quality of education available at AKHSP schools. staff report

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