(Photo by Brian Inganga/AP)
There’s been almost no advancement in reducing the amount of women dying because of pregnancy or childbirth all over the world over the past few years. This is the conclusion drawn by an extensive new report that was released conjointly by the World Health Organization and other United Nations agencies as well as the World Bank.
The report estimates there 287,000 deaths of mothers worldwide in 2020, which is the most recent year that these statistics are available for. This is equivalent to women dying every two minutesthat’s more than 800 deaths per day.
It’s only an 7% decrease since the year 2016 when world leaders pledged to a “sustainable development target” that would cut down the rate of maternal mortality by more than one-third in 2030.
The effect on women is equally distributed. Two regions that are Australia as well as New Zealand, and Central and Southern Asia – actually saw significant reductions (by 35 percent and 16%, and 16% respectively) in their rates of maternal mortality. In contrast 70% of all women’s deaths are concentrated in one region, namely sub-Saharan African Africa.
A lot of deaths are caused by causes like extreme bleeding or high blood pressure, and pregnant-related illnesses that could be prevented by the availability of basic health care along with family planning. The report also reveals that in the world, around 33% of women don’t have more than one-half of their recommended prenatal exams.
In a press conference held to present the report world health officials declared the findings “unacceptable” and demanded “urgent” funding for family planning and to fill the global shortage of 900,00 midwives.
“No woman should be killed in the birthing process,” said Dr. Anshu Banerjee, assistant director general at WHO. “It’s an opportunity for us to do something about it.”
He noted that this was particularly so given that the report does not take into account the potential for further setbacks after 2020 due to the effects on the COVID pandemic as well as the recent global economic slowdowns.
“That implies that it’s more difficult for lower income countries to fund health-related investments,” said Banerjee. However, without significant more funding and an emphasis on improving primary health care in order to increase the odds of a woman being able to survive pregnancy, he added, “We are at risk of seeing declining rates.”
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