SEA-ORCHID

South East Asia - Optimising Reproductive and Child Health in Developing Countries

Each year there are over half a million maternal deaths world-wide and 98% of these occur in the developing world. This represents a tragic and striking health risk differential between the developed and developing world. For women in Asia the lifetime risk of a maternal death is one in 65 compared with one in 1,800 for women in developed countries.

By establishing a network of researchers and teachers of evidence-based health care across four South East Asian countries, supported from Australia, this collaborative project aims to improve the clinical practice of treating pregnancy and childbirth related disorders and so enhance the health outcomes of mothers and infants in SE Asia.

SEA-ORCHID is a five-year project (2004-08) involving centres in Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines and Indonesia. These centres are supported by investigators and educators based at three centres in Australia (University of Adelaide, University of Sydney and Monash University).

Funding:
SEA-ORCHID is jointly funded by an International Collaborative Research Grant from the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (No. 307703) and Wellcome Trust, United Kingdom (071672/Z/03/Z).

SEA-ORCHID website:
www.seaorchid.org

Contact:
steve.mcdonald@med.monash.edu.au; phone 03 9594 7529.