Maternal Deaths: seeking improved health system and data

According to them, maternal and newborn deaths reduction which was 34 percent since 2000, stagnated from 2015 to 2020 as maternal deaths stood at 287,000 in 2020, especially in Asia and Africa.

Indeed, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, bemoaned Africa’s high maternal and newborn deaths during the first plenary of the four-day event which held on Monday, May 8 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC).

He said, “Africa is where seven out of 10 women die due to pregnancy-related issues. Every year, 4.5 million mothers, newborns, and stillborns die from preventable causes.”

According to Ghebreyesus, “Where a child is born or how much money its family has should not determine whether it lives or dies. But this is still the reality for many women and babies worldwide.”

He spoke while giving his keynote statement to the delegates at the Maternal and Newborn Health Conference in Cape Town, South Africa.

Similarly, Dr. Koki Agarwal, Director, MOMENTUM Country, and Global Leadership, alerted that progress in reducing the number of maternal deaths worldwide in recent years is marginal and inadequate to meet the global United Nations (UN) SDGs targets.

Dr. Agarwal, who is also a physician and seasoned public health practitioner, therefore called for increased collaboration and investment to improve maternal and newborn healthcare. She spoke in Cape Town, South Africa on the eve of the beginning of the first International Maternal and Newborn Health Conference (IMNHC2023).

Dr Agarwal who also doubles as a Public Health expert, spoke while addressing a group of health journalists in her presentation on the state of maternal and newborn health, titled, “Global Maternal and Newborn Health in a Changing World.”

SDG 3 aims to prevent needless suffering from preventable diseases and premature death by focusing on key targets that boost the health of a country’s overall population.

By Chioma Umeha

https://independent.ng/maternal-deathsimnhc-2023-seeks-strong-health-system-improved-data-in-nigeria-others/