World Leaders Must Take Action To Support Commitments To Lower Maternal Mortality, Opinion Piece Says

Main Category: Women's Health / Gynecology
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Article Date: 14 Jul 2009 - 2:00 PDT

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"I stood up and applauded for women everywhere when I heard the news" that the United Nations Human Rights Council, including the U.S., "recognized maternal death as a human rights issue," CARE President and CEO Helene Gayle writes in an Atlanta Journal-Constitution opinion piece. Gayle writes that governments for the past 15 years "have failed to meet the commitments made and targets set to reduce the more than half a million maternal deaths every year."

According to Gayle, preventing maternal death "requires three well-coordinated actions: sustain political leadership, secure adequate resources and strengthen health systems." She adds that the resolution "is a positive step" but that it is "only effective if it translates into action." She continues, "It's great to see the Obama administration places women and girls high on the agenda," adding that many members of Congress also support these issues.

Reducing maternal mortality "requires significant resources," Gayle writes. She adds, "To be blunt, an estimated global commitment of $39 billion over 10 years is needed to make significant progress." Such a commitment would be "an investment in women, their families and the economic productivity of nations," according to Gayle.

"The cost of not investing is far greater," Gayle continues. She notes that women "do two-thirds of the world's work and produce nearly 60% of the world's food." In addition, "children who lose their mothers are 10 times more likely to die in childhood than children with mothers," and maternal and newborn deaths "represent an estimated annual loss of $15.5 billion in productivity," according to Gayle. "Clearly, other development goals cannot be met without healthy mothers," she adds.

She continues that the "most tragic and infuriating point" is that the "death of a woman in childbirth is one of the most inexcusable deaths on earth." Because high maternal mortality is a "barometer of weak health systems, often reflecting the low status of women," strengthening health systems to improve maternal health will therefore enable the system to "address other health needs," Gayle writes. She adds that countries such as Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Peru have improved mortality rates "through four lifesaving programs: family planning, skilled and culturally sensitive care during pregnancy and childbirth, emergency care for complications and postpartum care."

Gayle writes, "The U.S. can spearhead a comprehensive maternal health action plan and, by doing so, set an example for world leaders to join and invest in." She concludes, "The actions we take now can make maternal death a problem of the past and not one of our children's future" (Gayle, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 7/10).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women's Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women's Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.

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