PHM-Exch> Maternal deaths fall 34 pct, still above UN target

[Claudio Schuftan]

From: vern weitzel vern.weitzel at gmail.com
crossposted from: "[health-vn discussion group]" health-vn at anu.edu.au

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LDE68D1QR.htm


 Maternal deaths fall 34 pct, still above UN target
15 Sep 2010 08:00:03 GMT
Source: Reuters
* Better pregnancy, delivery, post-natal care helps survival

* 1,000 women still die each day from pregnancy, childbirth

By Laura MacInnis

GENEVA, Sept 15 (Reuters) - 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, the World Health Organisation said on
Wednesday.

Women in poorer countries are 36 times more likely to die from
pregnancy-related causes than those in the rich nations, the WHO said,
announcing maternal mortality figures that remain far above the United
Nations' flagship targets.

"We must do more to reach out to those who are most at risk," UNICEF
Executive Director Anthony Lake said, calling for more attention to
obstetric care in rural areas, conflict zones and among women living with
the HIV virus that causes AIDS.

Some 99 percent of the 358,000 maternal deaths reported in 2008 were in
developing countries, and more than half were in sub-Saharan Africa,
according to the report launched ahead of a summit in New York on the
Millennium Development Goals.

For maternal mortality rates to hit the U.N. target, there would need to be
an annual decline in deaths of 5.5 percent from now until 2015. The rate of
decline since 1990, when there were 546,000 pregnancy-related deaths, was
2.3 percent.

U.N. 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 as the world has pledged to do.

The four major causes of maternal mortality are severe bleeding after
childbirth, infections, hypertensive disorders and unsafe abortions,
according to the WHO figures.

"These complications cause a lot of deaths which can easily be prevented,"
Ban told a news conference. "We cannot just accept this intolerable,
unacceptable situation where many millions of women die needlessly."

The overall improvement seen since 1990 was attributed to better training
for midwives, improved family planning services and better delivery and
post-natal care in hospitals and health clinics worldwide.

World Bank Vice President Tamar Manuelyan Atinc said helping poor families
access medical care, including family planning, emergency obstetric
treatment and post-natal monitoring, was fundamental to making a further
dent in maternal mortality. (Editing by Stephanie Nebehay and Mark Heinrich)

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