WUNRN
Lancet - Accelerating the Global
Response to Reduce Maternal Mortality
"About
287 000 mothers still die preventable deaths every year from complications
in pregnancy or childbirth, with 99% of these deaths (284 000) occurring
in low-income countries and 56% (162 000) occurring in sub-Saharan Africa
alone.2
"
_____________________________________________________________
AFRICAN UNION - MATERNAL MORTALITY -
MDG 5 - PROGRESS & CHALLENGES
Against
this backdrop, heads of state gathered in
Back in May 2009, the African
Union and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) launched CARMMA, the
Campaign for Accelerated Reduction of Maternal Mortality in Africa, with the aim
of expanding the availability of reproductive health services and moving Africa closer to achieving Millennium
Development Goal (MDG) 5: reducing the maternal mortality rate by
three-quarters and ensuring universal access to reproductive health care by
2015.
Ahead of the CARMMA meeting,
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged African heads of state to
commit to the MDGs.
But although pledges and
promises have been made, the continent still has a long way to go before it
reaches the 2015 target – so far, sub-Saharan
UNFPA Executive Director Dr.
Babatunde Osotimehin believes that, while sub-Saharan
“
African Union Commissioner of
Social Affairs, Dr. Mustapha Kaloko, is not convinced
“The unique nature of this
campaign is that it is not asking for anything new,” Kaloko told IPS. “We are
not developing new plans, but improving the instruments we already have.”
He added that most maternal
deaths in
A recent study by the renowned
medical journal ‘The Lancet’ shows that a woman in sub-Saharan
The same study also states that
eight out of ten countries with the highest numbers of maternal deaths are in
Africa with
Another major challenge,
according to Osotimehin, is the level of political commitment from nations to
reduce the rate of maternal mortality on the continent.
He stressed,“This event is not
about money but about commitment. We are here to ensure that no women dies
giving life.”
A vast
majority of maternal deaths – roughly 57 percent – occur on the continent of
And the mortality rate is not
the only thing of concern to development experts and local medical
practitioners — for every pregnancy-related death, there are about 20 women who
suffer complications before, during and after childbirth, leaving mothers and
children alike with lifelong disabilities or medical conditions.
Severe bleeding after
childbirth, infections, high blood pressure during pregnancy and unsafe
abortions are the most common causes for pregnancy-related complications and
deaths according to the UNFPA.
According to Dorothee Kinde
Gazard,
The increased use of family
planning services has been successful in several countries such as
Another solution is to reduce
the maternal mortality rate by preventing child marriages, Osotimehin said.
“Early child marriages create a
situation where children are bearing children, when they are physically and
psychologically not ready.”
In
Though CARMMA is primarily
focused on women’s health, men do play an important role in this campaign.
Osotimehin says everybody needs to realise that the high rates of maternal
mortality are not acceptable.
“So we must talk to men because
they are the ones who are causing all these problems,” he stressed.
Minister Gazard agreed that
men’s participation is crucial. “Without them we will not be successful in
reducing the maternal mortality rate,” she said. In a bid to involve men in
these efforts,
So far,
Leading experts like Michelle
Bachelet, executive director of UN Women, are convinced that few, if any,
African countries will be able to reduce maternal deaths by 75 percent in 2015.
“We have to focus on increasing
the efforts but we should already start thinking about what is going to happen
after 2015,” Bachelet told IPS.