The use of modern contraception has nearly tripled and skilled birth attendance has increased from less than 40 per cent to more than 50 per cent, according to Dr. Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, Executive Director of the UN population agency – UNFPA.
She told delegates at a major conference on ‘Maternal Health: Millennium Development Goal 5’ in Ethiopia that for Rwanda, deliveries in health facilities have jumped from less than a third to nearly half of all deliveries.
“This is impressive progress towards ensuring that every pregnancy is wanted and every birth is safe,” she told the closing session.
The landmark United Nations-sponsored conference aimed at generating political will and investment to slash maternal deaths – concluding with participants pledging to bolster efforts to improve women’s health.
The three-day conference produced a final statement from the more than 350 government officials and campaigners who pledged to make the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of improving maternal health “a high priority on the national, regional and international health agenda.”
However, the UN also says the changes are not enough as Rwanda continues to grapple with the problems posed by a high maternal mortality ratio. Available data shows that everything three hours, a mother dies during birth.
Earlier this month the First Lady Jeannette Kagame launched a major government program targeted at reducing this trend. “It is heartbreaking to see that every three hours, one mother dies from birth related complications,” she told local and international officials on October 07.
The UN estimates that it would cost the world $23 billion per year to stop women from having unintended pregnancies and dying in childbirth, and to save millions of newborns.
“This amounts to less than 10 days of global military spending. Instead, the world loses $15 billion in productivity each year by allowing mothers and newborns to die,” said UNFPA’s Ahmed Obaid.