The agencies received data for 171 of 183 countries, finding that maternal mortality ratios had fallen from 385 deaths per 100,000 live births in 1990 to 216 per 100,000 in 2015, a 43.9 percent drop, according the report, published in The Lancet.
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The authors say that, with the vision of ending preventable maternal deaths and the mission to reduce the global MMR to 70 deaths per 100 000 in the next 15 years, urgent action is needed to accelerate progress, particularly in countries with substantial maternal mortality. While the African nation accounts for about 58,000 maternal deaths (19 per cent), India recorded close to 45,000 maternal deaths (15 per cent) in 2015, according to a UN report released on Thursday.
The United Nations, with the World Health Organization and UNICEF, set a goal to slash maternal mortality by three-quarters by this year.
The report indicated that this year-end will register 99% maternal deaths from developing regions out of which maximum 66% will be noted from Sub-Saharan Africa.
The Maldives, Bhutan, Cambodia, Cape Verde, East Timor, Iran, Laos, Mongolia and Rwanda reduced maternal mortality by between 78% and 90%, the organisations’ report said.
Globally, approximately 303,000 women died from complications during pregnancy in 2015 or up to six weeks after giving birth, down 44 percent from 1990s rate of 532,000.
Experts say the fall is the result of access to better-quality health services during pregnancy and childbirth, and to sexual and reproductive health services and family planning.
The Eastern European nation ranks just behind world leaders, Iceland, Finland, Poland and Greece – where only three mothers die for every 100,000 live births. However, the greatest improvement of 72 per cent reduction was in East Asia, which includes China, where MMR fell from about 95 to 27 for 1 lakh live births. “And, we also know that most of these deaths are preventable”.
‘The education of women and girls, in particular the most marginalised, is key to their survival and that of their children. “Education provides them with the knowledge to challenge traditional practices that endanger them and their children”. To achieve this, the rate of global annual improvement since 1990, 2.3 percent, will need to triple to 7.5 percent starting next year.
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The plan was to reach that goal by the year 2015 as part of theh Millennium Development Goals (MDGS).
