Maternal Mortality Leading Cause of Death for Women Worldwide

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Maternal Mortality Leading Cause of Death for Women Worldwide;

Investment in Gender Equality Needed, UNFPA Report Says

Category: Women's Health/OBGYN News

Article 14 Oct 2005

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More than 500,000 women died from complications related to pregnancy

or childbirth in 2000, but 99% of those maternal deaths were

preventable, according to the U.N. Population Fund's " State of World

Population 2005 " report released on Wednesday, BBC News reports (BBC

News, 10/12). Reproductive health problems, including HIV/AIDS, are

the leading cause of death among women ages 15 to 44 and are

responsible for approximately 250 million years of productive life

lost annually, the report says (Lawless, AP/ABC News, 10/12). Experts

said that most maternal deaths are preventable through family planning

that provides access to contraceptives, skilled workers attending to

births and improved access to emergency obstetric care when necessary

(BBC News, 10/12). An estimated 76 million unplanned pregnancies and

19 million unsafe abortions occur worldwide annually (UNFPA release,

10/12). About half of the approximately 40 million HIV-positive people

worldwide are women, and prevalence is rising among women, especially

young women, according to the report (Daily Mail, 10/12). Women ages

15 to 24 are 1.6 times as likely to be HIV-positive as their male

counterparts, the reports says (BBC News, 10/12).

 

Recommendations, Costs

The report says that improving gender equality and investing in the

health and education of women and youth could lead to lower HIV

prevalence rates, smaller families, and healthier, more literate

children, Reuters reports. " It is time to call for action to free

women from discrimination, violence and poor health they face in their

daily lives, " UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya Obaid said, adding, " If

we don't invest in women's education and health and their ability to

plan their family, we are not allowing them to be able to contribute

to the economic sector " (Reaney, Reuters, 10/12). The estimated cost

of achieving the U.N. Millennium Development Goals -- which include

stemming the HIV/AIDS pandemic, halving extreme poverty, promoting

gender equality and reducing maternal mortality -- would be $135

billion in 2006, rising to $195 billion in 2015 (AP/ABC News, 10/12).

Providing social infrastructure alone will not solve the problem,

Steve Kraus, head of the HIV/AIDS branch of UNFPA, said, adding, " When

we benefit women in a just and free society, all of society benefits.

When we suppress women, society loses " (Cheong-won, Korea Times, 10/12).

 

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