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Press Release
18 October 2007
UK pledges £100 million and calls on world leaders to cut maternal deaths
On Thursday 18 October, Douglas Alexander, the UK’s Secretary of State for
International Development, called on leaders of the world’s poorest countries,
particularly those in Africa, to take women’s health more seriously and put it
at the heart of their decision-making.
Announcing an additional £100 million over five years to help prevent unwanted
pregnancies and make childbirth safer, Douglas Alexander said that more than
500,000 women die needlessly every year from complications during pregnancy and
childbirth.
Putting women's health at the top of the political agenda
It is estimated that every £1 million invested in family planning could avert
720,000 unwanted pregnancies, prevent 300,000 abortions and save the lives of
1,600 mothers and 22,000 infants.
Mr Alexander was speaking at the start of a three day event in London, billed as
the biggest conference on women's health in 20 years.
Douglas Alexander said:
“The death of a mother deprives a child, a family, a community and ultimately
a country of one of its most valuable sources of health, happiness and
prosperity.
“Every minute a woman dies from complications during pregnancy or childbirth.
More than 10 million women, mostly in Africa and South Asia, have died in the
last 20 years. This is a tragedy but so is the fact these deaths could have been
prevented.
“We need to ensure health services not only function, but also reflect the needs
of women. Women must have a voice to demand better services and to vote for the
MP who puts women’s health at the top of the political agenda.”
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Keeping our promises on maternal health
The
Women
Deliver conference marks the anniversary of the Safe Motherhood Initiative,
launched in Kenya in 1987. More than 1,500 politicians, including Ministers from
Africa and Asia, human rights activists, NGOs, faith groups, health
professionals and economists from 75 countries, are expected to attend.
The £100 million will help the
UN
Population Fund to support governments in Africa and South Asia provide more
condoms, contraceptive pills, and advice on better sexual health to poor women,
girls and men. It is part of the UN’s goal to improve the quality of national
health care provided by governments in poorer countries. The announcement brings
overall UK support for health in the developing world to £800 million a year and
helps ensure promises made at the G8 Summit in Gleneagles are being kept.
In September, Gordon Brown, Douglas Alexander and Ministers from developing
countries launched the International Health
Partnership. The initiative, to help build national health systems in some
of the world’s poorest countries, aims to improve the way donors and governments
of poor countries work together to develop and implement national health plans.
In 1990 it was estimated 576,300 women died every year during pregnancy or
labour, or after giving birth. The latest figures show that by 2005, some
535,900 died – 40,400 lives saved. The UN’s global target is to save the lives
of at least 432,225 mothers by 2015 (a 75% cut in the 1990 figure).
To help achieve that goal, conference organisers will call for:
- International aid to reduce maternal deaths to increase from $530 million to $6 billion a year;
- Politicians and donors to improve national healthcare systems so the needs of women are not ignored;
- More condoms, contraceptives and other family planning services to be made available;
- More skilled care to be provided by midwives, nurses, or doctors during
pregnancy and childbirth;- Emergency care for all mothers and newborn babies with complications.
Maternal health facts
- 540,000 women die every year from complications during pregnancy and childbirth — almost one woman every minute.
- Sub-Saharan Africa alone accounts for 51% of the world’s maternal deaths.
- More than 10 million women have died since the global Safe Motherhood Initiative was launched in 1987.
- Some of the biggest causes of maternal deaths are:
1. Haemorrhaging - uncontrolled bleeding can kill a healthy woman in two hours and most developing countries lack adequate supplies of safe blood;
2. Unsafe abortion - one-third of all pregnancies worldwide are unintended, leading to 20 million unsafe abortions every year. The result: nearly 70,000 maternal deaths and millions more disabling injuries and infections;
3. Obstructed labour - women’s bodies stunted by malnutrition or anaemia, or those of young girls, may be too small for the baby’s head to pass through the birth canal.- A child whose mother has died is four times more likely to die than a child who has not lost a mother.
- Every year about 8 million babies die in their first four weeks of life or are stillborn.
- Women are more likely to die during or after childbirth than during pregnancy. Most maternal deaths occur towards the end of pregnancy or during the first week after childbirth with the highest number of deaths on the first and second days after birth.
- $15 billion a year is lost worldwide because of maternal and newborn deaths.
- To meet the UN’s target and reduce maternal mortality rates by 75% by 2015, an additional $5.5 billion a year in international aid will be required – that’s more than ten times the 2004 figure of $530 million
Country Facts
- A poor woman in Ethiopia or Nepal is 280 times more likely to die as a result of pregnancy and childbirth than a woman in the UK.
- In Sierra Leone, one in eight women will die during pregnancy and childbirth, whereas in Ireland the figure is one woman out of every 47,600.
- In Ethiopia only 5.6% of births are attended by a skilled professional, while in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Chad it is less than 15% of births.
Sources: Women Deliver for Development (2007) and DFID
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Notes to the Editor
1. Douglas Alexander was speaking between 09:00-09:30 on Thursday 18 October. The conference will be held at the ExCel Centre, Docklands, London, E16 1XL, from 18-20 October.
2. Media wishing to attend any part of the event should contact the Women Deliver conference press office. Contact Cathy Bartley, 00 44 20 8694 9138 or e-mail cathy.bartley@bartley-robbs.co.uk.
3. Factsheets, press releases and other media material for the conference can
be found at
www.womendeliver.org/media/index.htm.
4. The conference is organised by Family Care International, a US based charity that campaigns for the rights of mothers and newborn children. The Department for International Development is providing £300,000 to the global Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH) towards the overall cost of the conference.
5. Speakers at the conference will include:
- Dr. Asha-Rose Migiro, Deputy Secretary-General of the UN;
- Mary Robinson, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights;
- Thoraya Obaid, UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of the UN Population Fund;
- Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the US House of Representatives;
- Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organisation; and
- Dr. Peter Piot, UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of UNAIDS.
If you are a member of the media and would like a copy of Douglas Alexander’s speech or more information about what the UK is doing please contact the DFID press office on 020 7023 0600, e-mail pressoffice@dfid.gov.uk or visit our Health Facts and Figures page.
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