PHA-Exchange> WHO 's Campaign To Reduce Childbirth-Related Deaths in Developing Countries

[Claudio]

From: "Vern Weitzel" <vern.weitzel at undp.org>
>
> WHO Launches Training Campaign To Reduce Number of
> Childbirth-Related Deaths in Developing Countries
> [Sep 30, 2004]
>        The World Health Organization in Nairobi, Kenya,
> on Wednesday launched a training campaign to help
> reduce the number of childbirth- and abortion-related
> deaths among women in developing countries,
 WHO estimates that every
> minute of the day, one woman in a developing country
> dies from giving birth and that maternal deaths are
> underreported by as much as 50%, with 62 countries
> recording no data at all.
> WHO blamed the crisis on "unavailable, inaccessible or
> poor quality care," saying that most of the deaths  are preventable, even
in the poorest areas.  "Less than 10% of health resources in Africa are
well-utilized, essentially
> because of lack of planning, choosing wrong priorities
> and lack of political will," . WHO said it needs an extra $10 million to
train health care workers and local leaders in countries with high maternal
mortality rates . WHO on Wednesday also launched a new
> manual aimed at teaching health care providers ways to
> prevent childbirth-related deaths even in the poorest
> conditions and how to gather better data on these
> deaths. The campaign, which involves more than 12
> international and regional agencies, will focus on 20
> high-priority countries .
>
> Statistics, Reaction
> United Nations data shows that out of every 100,000
> births, 830 mothers die in Africa, 330 die in Asia and
> 190 die in Latin America and the Caribbean, compared
> with only 20 deaths per 100,000 births in the
> developed world.In some
> developing regions, a woman has a one in 16 chance of
> dying during pregnancy and childbirth, compared with a
> one in 2,800 risk for a woman in a developed country,
> according to WHO. Without policies to reverse the
> current situation, a "tragedy" will result in Africa. "If
> we do nothing to reverse the trend in maternal and
> newborn mortality in Africa, over the next 10 years,
> there will be at least 2.5 million maternal deaths, 49
> million maternal disabilities, resulting to 7.5
> million child deaths and 45 billion dollars in
> productivity loss. "The epidemic is invisible. Because governments cannot
tell how many women die, they do not realize what the problems are and no
steps are taken to address this problem or alleviate the suffering of these
women". In addition, WHO says that
> about one million children are "left motherless" each
> year, and these children are 10 times as likely to die
> during childhood as children whose mothers are living.
>
> The WHO manual is downloadable at following website  with acrobat reader

> http://www.who.int/reproductive-health/publications/btn/btn.pdf