The importance of improving these conditions is heightened by the eminant possibility of cholera and dysentery outbreaks. Pr ncipe must be a major focal point for any aspect of development work. Not only do women hold a key social position in teaching future generations basic awareness of health and sanitation issues, but also, given their low economic position, they comprise a vulnerable group in relation to health issues. After malaria, one of the most pressing areas of health concern is maternal-infant mortality. Tom e Pr ncipe in 1997 with the average number of visits standing at 4.5 - a marked improvement since the late 1980s.
Figures are, of course, slightly better in the capital than in the more remote areas of the islands.
However, at the same time as pre-natal visits are showing an increase, the number of women that give birth within a medical institution is dropping, and maternal mortality remains worrying, at 130 per 100,000 births between 1991 and 1993. Tom e Pr ncipe. These figures are worryingly high for a small population. The provision of vaccines is a large area of concern in childhood health. Another important area is that of post-natal visits.