Maternal deaths on a slow decline: UN
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Deaths from complications during pregnancy and childbirth have fallen by a third in the past two decades. But 1,000 women still die needlessly every day, says the World Health Organisation
Maternal mortality has declined by more than one-third in nearly two decades, but United Nations agencies -- the World Health Organisation, UN Children’s Fund, World Bank -- have warned in a report recently released that the rate of progress is too slow. It is well below the global target of a three-quarters drop in maternal mortality, under the 2015 UN Millennium Development Goals, it said.
The number of women dying due to complications during pregnancy and childbirth fell by 34%, from about 546,000 in 1990 to 358,000 in 2008, according to the report ‘Trends in Maternal Mortality’. “The global reduction in maternal death rates is encouraging news,” says WHO Director General Dr Margaret Chan.
Chan pinned the progress on the presence of more trained midwives and strengthening healthcare for pregnant women. “No woman should die due to inadequate access to family planning and to pregnancy and delivery care,” she said.
Ninety-nine per cent of such deaths occurred in developing nations, while sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia accounted for 87% of maternal mortality in the world. The fastest progress was achieved in Asia, where the number of maternal deaths more than halved, from 315,000 to 139,000 between 1990 and 2008.
“Maternal deaths are both caused by poverty and are a cause of it,” says Tamar Manuelyan Atinc, Vice-President for Human Development, World Bank. Women in poorer countries are 36 times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than those in rich nations. “We must do more to reach out to those who are most at risk,” Unicef Executive Director Anthony Lake said, calling for greater attention to obstetric care in rural areas, conflict zones and women living with the HIV virus that causes AIDS.
For maternal mortality rates to meet UN targets, there would have to be an annual decline in deaths of 5.5% from now until 2015. The rate of decline since 1990, when there were 546,000 pregnancy-related deaths, was 2.3%.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said earlier this week that tens of billions of dollars per year were required to achieve the health-related Millennium Development Goals by 2015.
The four major causes of maternal mortality are severe bleeding after childbirth, infections, hypertensive disorders and unsafe abortions, according to WHO figures.
For more details visit: http://www.who.int/
Source: AFP, September 16, 2010
Reuters, September 16, 2010