LUSAKA, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- Zambia on Tuesday launched a program aimed at improving the health of women during pregnancy as a way to address related deaths.

       The Zambia Multiple Micronutrients project was mainly expected to address the problem of nutritional anemia among pregnant women in Zambia. The initial project will be implemented in three of the country's 10 provinces and will initially target 330,000 pregnant women.

       Sylvia Masebo, the minister of Health, said during the launch that the project was in line with the World Health Organization (WHO) global target to reduce the prevalence of anemia by 50 percent by 2025.

       "This implies that for Zambia, we need to be reducing to levels of 15 percent and 20 percent in women of reproductive age and pregnant women respectively annually," she said.

       She said poor maternal health has resulted in unacceptable high rates of maternal, neonatal, infant and child mortalities, adding that evidence has shown that good nutrition from pre-pregnancy, conception and throughout the pregnancy period was important for a positive pregnancy outcome.

       According to her, the launched project will contribute to finding effective solutions to tackling poor nutrition by providing pregnant women with multiple micronutrient supplements which will provide more nutrients in addition to iron and folic acid that address anemia.

       Currently, pregnant women in Zambia are provided with only two supplements which are not sufficient, said the official, adding that the project will be providing various micronutrients to pregnant women in order to improve their store during the critical stage of their lives.

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       She said the project will be introduced to other provinces based on the success of the pilot stage.