INDICES> Stopping the invisible epidemic of maternal deaths

[Leela McCullough <leela@healthnet.org>]

Indices: Stopping the invisible epidemic of maternal deaths

Press Release WHO/65
29 September, 2004

 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 Partnership 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 attendants 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% because deaths are not classified
correctly, or more often, not counted at all. In 62 countries of the world,
there are no maternal 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, infection,
hypertensive disorders, obstructed labour and unsafe abortion, the
fundamental reasons for the continuing crisis are unavailable, 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 Millennium
Development Goals, which include reducing maternal mortality by three
quarters by 2015. One key task of the global health community is to close
the gap in services for women in rich areas, and those in poor ones." said
Joy Phumaphi.

 "It is the duty of all governments to lead the fight against maternal 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 providers, Beyond the numbers - Reviewing maternal
deaths and complications to make pregnancy safer is also available. The
manual delves into the question of why women die from complications related
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 community, 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.

 RELATED LINKS
 -
<http://www.who.int/reproductive-health/publications/btn/index.html>Beyond
the numbers - Reviewing maternal deaths and complications to make pregnancy
safer
 - <http://www.who.int/reproductive-health/mpr/index.htm>Making pregnancy
safer
- <http://www.who.int/topics/pregnancy/en>Pregnancy
>
> For more information contact:
>
> Xu Baert - Communications Officer
> Making Pregnancy Safer
> WHO/Geneva
> Telephone: +41 22 791 3436
> Fax: +41 22 791 41 89
> Email: <mailto:baertx@who.int>baertx@who.int
>
> Shamila Akram
> Making Pregnancy Safer
> WHO/Geneva
> Telephone: +41 22 791 4477
> Email: <mailto:akrams@who.int>akrams@who.int
>
>
> __________________________________________________
>
>
> Leela McCullough, Ed.D.
> Director of Information Services
>
> SATELLIFE
> 30 California Street, Watertown, MA 02472, USA
> Tel: +617-926-9400    Fax: +617-926-1212
> Email: leela@healthnet.org
> Web: http://www.healthnet.org

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