Stalled global progress on preventable maternal deaths needs renewed focus and action

At the midpoint to the 2030 deadline for reaching the United Nations’ sustainable development goals (SDGs), we are well off target in terms of ending preventable maternal deaths worldwide. The latest progress report from the World Health Organization, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (Unicef), and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)1 finds that the global decline in preventable maternal mortality seen at the start of this century has flatlined in recent years. Setbacks resulting from the covid pandemic have compounded the challenge of reducing the world’s 4.5 million preventable and treatable maternal, neonatal, and newborn deaths each year—a staggering one death every seven seconds.In 2020, an estimated 287 000 women worldwide died from maternity related causes, averaging almost 800 maternal deaths a day.2 Assuming that the rate of progress of the past five years remains unchanged, the maternal mortality rate will be 222 in 100 000 live births…
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