A Skilled Birth Attendant (SBA) Training Institute in Comilla will also be set up under the project for conducting community-based SBA training, official sources said here yesterday.

The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is implementing the project, the only such centre in South-East Asia, co-financed by the UNFPA through its regular fund under the 7th Country Programme.

Bangladesh has made significant progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for both children and maternal survival, the sources said.

But formidable challenges are still lying ahead, particularly in taking to national scale of coverage on CSBA training programme and fistula programme in Bangladesh with timely proven cost effective and efficacious interventions, they said.

The sources also said that maternal mortality and neonatal mortality, estimated to be 320 per 100,000 and 41 per 1,000 live births respectively, are still unacceptably high.

Setting up of a NFC in the DMCH and providing treatment to the fistula patients will help women improve their quality of life and reduce morbidity, the sources observed.

The DGHS will hold a workshop in this connection on July 17 at Hotel Sheraton.