Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)-The World Health Organisation (WHO), Unicef and UNFPA have urged the South-East Asian countries to improve the quality of life for woman, newborn and child.
According to a joint statement of the organisations, about 76,000 mothers had died as a result of pregnancy and childbirth in 2012 in the South-East Asia region.
The region had also lost an estimated 1.8 million children under the age of five years, and there were about one million newborn deaths in 2012, said the statement issued from Kathmandu on Tuesday.
“In an ideal world not even a single mother, newborn or a child would die due to a preventable cause,” said Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, the Regional Director for South-East Asia of WHO.
“There are several challenges that have affected progress in maternal and child health. Low public investments in health, high out-of-pocket expenses, inadequate number and distribution of health workers with the necessary skills-mix are some of them.
“We are losing children and new mothers at unacceptable rates and issues, such as gender imbalance, early marriage and adolescent pregnancy, suboptimal birth spacing, inadequate water and sanitation facilities, are contributing to these deaths,” she added.
As per the United Nations Inter-agency Group estimates (2013), under-five mortality declined from 118 per 1000 live births in 1990 to 50 per 1000 live births in 2012 in the WHO South-East Asia region.
Reduction in the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) from 590 per 100,000 live births in 1990 to 200 per 100,000 live births in 2010 is one of the most significant achievements over the past decade in the region (World Health Statistics 2013).
Two countries of the region received the UN Secretary General’s award in 2010: Bangladesh for progress towards achieving Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 4, and Nepal for progress towards achieving MDG 5. While MDG 4 aims to reduce child mortality, MDG 5 targets reduction in maternal mortality by 2015.
BBN/ANS/AD/29Apr14-8:20pm (BST)
