No doubt, we are living in the eye of two parallel phenomena which greatly impact and challenge human existence on the planet. One of the two phenomena is purely induced by human activities and is easily preventable, while the other one is beyond human power and will. The former is related to complications in pregnancy and childbirth, while the latter is ageing.
As healthy women and healthy mothers are the keystone of the existence of human race, the health of women and their families is critical to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which calls for reducing maternal mortality to less than 70 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births by 2030.
According to statistics of the World Health Organization (WHO), every day in 2020, approximately 800 women died from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth and this means that a woman dies around every two minutes either during pregnancy or during childbirth. This phenomenon is reflected in and exacerbated by inequalities in access to health care services and highlights the divide between the haves and have-nots.
But the revelations made in the latest report titled “Trends in Maternal Mortality”, which is jointly produced by the WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, the World Bank and UN Population Division, provides a stark reminder on the inequitable distribution of resources which has aggravated the situation for the women of poor families or those hailing from the lower strata of the society.
The report calls upon governments and relevant agencies to work on a pragmatic plan in the health sector and pave the way to achieving the global target in respect of maternal health or face the risk of loss of over one million women by the end of the current decade.
In two of the eight UN regions – Europe and Northern America, and Latin America and the Caribbean – the maternal mortality rate has increased between 2016 and 2020, by at least 17 per cent and 15 per cent, respectively. Elsewhere, this rate is stagnant.
The report, however, notes that progress is possible. Two regions – Australia and New Zealand, and Central and Southern Asia – experienced significant declines (by 35 per cent and 16 per cent, respectively) in their maternal mortality rates during the same period, as did 31 other countries across the world. The world’s countries have also committed to reducing neonatal mortality to no more than 12 per 1,000 live births and under-five mortality to no more than 25 per 1,000 live births by 2030.
Many countries have already reached that target, but more than 50 nations are lagging far behind. Unless we really accelerate, we are going to lose 50 million kids unnecessarily, the report adds. Inequities related to income, education, race or ethnicity further increase risks for marginalized pregnant women, who have the least access to essential maternity care services but are most likely to experience underlying health problems in pregnancy.
Through effective planning, we can bridge these yawning gaps in resource distribution to ensure provision of all basis civic amenities to protect women’s reproductive health and improve national health indicators.
