Giant leap in funding sought to bring down maternal, child mortality

Apr 16, 2008, 11:35 GMT

Johannesburg - An extra 10 billion dollars in funding is needed each year to make a big dent in child and maternal mortality, according to an international expert report released Wednesday, which showed women and children in developing countries still dying in inordinately high numbers.

The Countdown to 2015: Maternal, Newborn and Child Survival report for 2008 shows that of the 68 countries that account for nearly all maternal and child deaths worldwide (97 per cent) 50 had made little to no progress in saving the lives of women and children since 1990.

Child mortality had actually increased in 12 African countries, including some of the continent's wealthiest nations like South Africa and Botswana, 'mostly as a result of HIV epidemics and conflict,' the report showed.

Over 10 million women, children and newborns die each year from diseases that are largely preventable and treatable. Half of these deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa, despite the continent accounting for only about 11 per cent of the world's population.

Eight years ago the heads of state and government of United Nations member countries agreed on a set of eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to be reached by 2015.

The report released by the World Health Organization ahead of the second Countdown to 2015 conference in Cape Town this week, measures the progress of countries towards two of those goals - on child and maternal mortality.

Of the 68 'priority' countries only 16 were on track to meet MDG four, which aims to cut the under-five mortality rate by two-thirds compared to 1990 levels.

Of these, most were Asian or Latin American countries, including Brazil, Peru, China and the Philippines.

The limited data available on maternal deaths in many countries made it harder to track progress on MDG five - reducing maternal mortality by three quarters and achieving universal access to reproductive health by 2015.

But in around three-quarters of the priority countries maternal mortality was still high or very high, with women dying mostly during or shortly after giving birth.

The report blamed weak, underfunded health systems for critical gaps in the 'continuum of care' for mothers and children, including a lack of emergency care for babies and children, and a shortage of skilled healthcare workers.

While many countries had made progress in the prevention of killer diseases such as measles and malaria through immunization and the mass distribution of anti-malaria bed nets and vitamin tablets access to treatment for the sick was still a sticking point.

More than half of all child deaths in sub-Saharan Africa are caused by pneumonia, diarrhea and malaria, disease that are easily curable.

Underspending by government on healthcare is also shoving up healthcare costs for families and making primary care unaffordable for many, the report found.

'Many families either avoid seeking care altogether or risk impoverishment when they do.'

While donor funding for mother-and-child healthcare increased by around two-thirds to 2.5 billion dollars in the three years to 2006 a quantum leap in funding - another 10 billion dollars a year - was needed to meet the UN goals.

Donor assistance also needs to be 'coordinated, predictable and long-term donor commitments.'

For further information, go to: www.countdown2015mnch.org