The millions of seemingly preventable deaths of women and children each year has prompted the United Nations to devote this year’s World Health Day to highlighting their plight.
More than half a million women die in pregnancy or childbirth each year and nearly 11 million children die before their fifth birthday and these shocking figures are, says Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, executive director of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), a public health crisis and a moral outrage, stressing that far too many women are deprived of access to basic health services that are fundamental to the fulfilment of their human rights.
Obaid is calling for a sharp increase in cost-effective interventions that have been shown to work, such as skilled medical attendants for delivery which would reduce maternal deaths by nearly 75 per cent, or simple family planning services that could cut maternal mortality by 25 per cent and child deaths by 20 per cent. and wants to see a "move from lines in speeches to budget lines".
Kofi Annan, UN secretary-General, says that even though the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) adopted by world leaders at a UN summit five years ago, pledged to reduce maternal deaths by three quarters and cut child mortality by two thirds by 2015, the little progress seen in some areas was offset by stagnation in others and in some countries, progress has even been reversed.
Annan says World Health Day is an opportunity to highlight the problem, but above all, to stimulate action and is an occasion to "call on all partners – governments, international donors, civil society, the private sector, the media, families and individuals alike – to develop sustainable activities for the survival, health and well-being of mothers and children.”
An annual report, The World Health Report 2005, published by the World Health Organization (WHO) to mark the day, says the death toll could be drastically reduced through wider use of “key interventions” and a “continuum of care” approach to mother and child that begins before pregnancy and extends through childbirth and into the baby’s childhood. The vast majority of deaths among children under five are attributable to just six causes – such as birth asphyxia and infections, diarrhoea and measles – that are largely avoidable through existing care that is simple, affordable and effective.
A massive investment in health systems is needed and this approach could potentially transform the lives of millions of people, says WHO Director-General Lee Jong-wook , “giving mothers, babies and children the care they need is an absolute imperative.”
The report estimated that out of 136 million births each year worldwide, less than two thirds of women in less developed countries and only one third in the least developed countries have their babies delivered by a skilled attendant. More than 3 million babies are stillborn and more than 4 million newborns die within the first days or weeks of life.
WHO adviser Ian Smith told a news briefing in New York that it would take $39 billion over 10 years to move towards the MDG of improving the health of newborns and $52 billion for improving child health care.