GENEVA, Switzerland – A harrowing report published Tuesday, May 9, 2023, by the World Health Organisation, WHO, indicates that one pregnant woman or newborn dies every seven seconds, shedding a harsh light on the increasing maternal and newborn deaths worldwide.
The study, exploring the measures of maternal and newborn health, survival, and stillbirth rates, attributes the grim statistics to a sharp decrease in investments in the health sector.
It reveals a troubling stagnation in progress towards improving survival rates since 2015, with a staggering 290,000 maternal deaths recorded each year.
“The numbers are devastating,” said Dr. Anshu Banerjee, WHO’s Director of Maternal, Newborn, Child, and Adolescent Health. “Pregnant women and newborns are dying at alarmingly high rates globally. We must do things differently. More and smarter investments in primary healthcare are needed so that every woman and baby has the best chance of health and survival.”
The report also highlights the heartbreaking toll of stillbirths and newborn deaths, with 1.9 million and 2.3 million respectively each year.
This, combined with maternal deaths, amounts to over 4.5 million women and babies dying annually during pregnancy, childbirth, or the first weeks after birth.
According to the report, the exacerbating factors include the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, increasing poverty, and worsening humanitarian crises, which have intensified pressure on already strained health systems.
It further expressed concern that only one in 10 countries, out of more than 100 surveyed, have sufficient funds to implement their current health plans.
The situation appears most dire in Sub-Saharan Africa and Central and Southern Asia. In these regions, less than 60 percent of women receive even half of the WHO-recommended eight antenatal checks.
Dr. Julitta Onabanjo, Technical Division Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), insisted that the death of any pregnant woman or young girl is a violation of human rights. “It reflects the urgent need to scale-up access to quality sexual and reproductive health services as part of universal health coverage and primary health care,” Onabanjo said.
This report serves as a stark reminder of the urgent need to invest in and prioritize maternal and newborn health on a global scale. Without swift action, these alarming statistics are likely to continue, casting a long shadow over the future of global health.
