PHA-Exchange> Stopping the invisible epidemic of maternal deaths

[Claudio]

From: "Madeleine Anne Decker" <omsdoc at oms-mz.org>


> Stopping the invisible epidemic of maternal deaths
> --------------------------------------------------
> 
> WHO Press release and Document: Stopping the invisible epidemic
> of maternal deaths
> 
> WHO and partners act to reduce the maternal death toll of half a
> million women each year
> 
> 29 SEPTEMBER 2004 | GENEVA -- Every minute of every day, at
> least one woman in developing countries dies in childbirth --
> more than half a million each year. Today, WHO and the Partner-
> ship for Safe Motherhood and Newborn Health are intensifying
> support to countries around the world to ensure that a woman
> does not die while giving birth to her child.
> 
> The needs are wide-ranging - from training skilled birth atten-
> dants who can help a woman give birth safely, to the very basic
> issue of recording the cause of a woman's death. WHO estimates
> that maternal deaths are under-reported by as much as 50% be-
> cause deaths are not classified correctly, or more often, not
> counted at all. In 62 countries of the world, there are no ma-
> ternal mortality data whatsoever.
> 
> "If dead women are not even counted, then it seems they do not
> count. We have an invisible epidemic," said Joy Phumaphi, World
> Health Organization's Assistant Director-General on Family and
> Community Health, at a gathering of health ministers, maternal
> health specialists, African Parliamentarians, leaders of non-
> governmental organizations and donor agencies today in Nairobi.
> 
> "Pregnancy is a normal, life-affirming state. Women should not
> die giving birth. Their deaths are preventable, even in the
> poorest countries. But it takes local knowledge, strength and
> partnership to ensure women's lives are saved."
> 
> While the main causes of maternal deaths are haemorrhage, infec-
> tion, hypertensive disorders, obstructed labour and unsafe abor-
> tion, the fundamental reasons for the continuing crisis are un-
> available, inaccessible, or poor quality care. The effects are
> tragically amplified, as some one million children are left
> motherless each year. These children are 10 times more likely to
> die in childhood than children whose mothers have not died.
> 
> Maternal mortality shows a stark divide between rich and poor
> countries. In some developing regions, a woman has a one in 16
> chance of dying in pregnancy and childbirth. This compares with
> a one in 2 800 risk for a woman from a developed region. Sub-
> Saharan Africa and central south Asia in particular suffer high
> rates of maternal death. The risk of dying in pregnancy in the
> world's poorest countries is over a hundred times higher than in
> the richest ones.
> 
> "Countries around the world have pledged to achieve the Millen-
> nium Development Goals, which include reducing maternal mortal-
> ity by three quarters by 2015. One key task of the global health
> community is to close the gap in services for women in rich ar-
> eas, and those in poor ones." said Joy Phumaphi.
> 
> "It is the duty of all governments to lead the fight against ma-
> ternal and neonatal mortality," said First Lady of Kenya, Lucy
> Kibaki, who jointly chaired the Nairobi meeting. Praising the
> solidarity shown by the African parliamentarians present at the
> launch, Lady Lucy Kibaki added, "Only by joining forces can we
> achieve our common goals."
> 
> As part of its support, WHO is beginning world-wide training for
> health staff today. A new manual for health planners and provid-
> ers, Beyond the numbers - Reviewing maternal deaths and compli-
> cations to make pregnancy safer is also available. The manual
> delves into the question of why women die from complications re-
> lated to childbirth, and spells out how to avoid them by using
> effective and affordable methods which can be implemented in
> even the poorest settings. Beyond the numbers is the new focus
> for WHO regional and country offices and partners from more than
> 20 regional and international agencies, including UNFPA, UNICEF
> and the World Bank. This programme includes the training of
> health planners and providers in high-risk countries and regions
> in the use of five methods to gather information upon which to
> base actions: verbal autopsies, reviewing deaths in the commu-
> nity, health facility-based reviews, confidential inquiries,
> near-miss case reviews and clinical audit.
> 
> The implementation of this initiative is urgent, but requires
> more resources. US$ 10 million are needed to train decision-
> makers, national health planners and medical service providers.
> This will take place in 20 high-priority countries. Funds will
> also be used to measure progress.
> 
> "Each time, such a gathering reminds us vividly of the loss of
> lives of those we cared for and our beloved ones. It is time for
> all of us to turn technical knowledge into action to save the
> lives of the women who give life," said Dr. Luc de Bernis, one
> of the authors of Beyond the numbers from WHO.
> 
> For more information contact:
> 
> Xu Baert
> Communications Officer,
> Telephone: +41-22-791-3436
> mailto:baertx at who.int
> 
> 
> Shamila Akram
> Telephone: +41-22-791-4477
> mailto:akrams at who.int
> 
> --
> WHO document
> 
> Beyond the numbers: Reviewing maternal deaths and complications
> to make pregnancy safer
> 
> Beyond the numbers is directed at health professionals, health
> care planners and managers working in the area of maternal and
> newborn health who are striving to improve the quality of care
> provided. They should be in a position and willing to take reme-
> dial action based on the findings of these reviews and should
> use the information collected to help improve maternal health
> outcomes. This can be done through empowering health profession-
> als to critically evaluate current practices and change them, if
> necessary. Because action is the ultimate goal of these reviews
> it is important that those with the ability to implement the
> recommended changes actively participate in the process.
> 
> Download as Adobe PDF file (150 pp. 2.61 MB!):
> http://www.who.int/reproductive-health/publications/btn/btn.pdf
> 
> WHO sites
> Maternal health
> http://www.who.int/topics/maternal_health/en/
> 
> Pregnancy
> http://www.who.int/topics/pregnancy/en/
> 
> Maternal and newborn health
> http://www.who.int/reproductive-health/MNBH/index.htm
> 
> Sent by
> 
> Madeleine Anne Decker
> Documentation Officer
> WHO Mozambique
> mailto:omsdoc at oms-mz.org
>