Over 60 countries risk missing out on maternal, newborn and stillborn SDGs targets – WHO chief warns


Read Time: 3 minutes

By Kemo Cham in Cape Town

Over 60 countries are at risk of not meeting the maternal, newborn and stillborn targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) if urgent action is not taken, the Director General of the World Health Organization, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has warned.

While acknowledging progress made in efforts to reduce maternal and newborn mortality in the last 20 years, Dr Ghebreyesus said reductions in maternal and newborn deaths have now plateaued, noting that newborn mortalities still accounted for almost half of under-five mortality.

“Every year, 4.5 million mothers, newborns and stillborns die from preventable causes,” he told delegates at the ongoing Maternal and Newborn Health Conference in Cape Town, South Africa on Tuesday, May 9.

“Where a child is born or how much money its family has should not determine whether it lives or dies. But this is still the reality for many women and babies worldwide,” the WHO chief added, as part of a keynote statement during the first plenary of the four-day event that began on Monday, May 8 at the Cape Town International Convention Center.

MNHC2023 is the maiden edition of a biennial conference which the organizers hope will provide a forum for accountability and to measure progress and assess challenges in efforts to deal with maternal, newborn and stillborn mortality. They say it will enable pathways to drive collaboration, coordination, cross-country learning, and alignment within the maternal and newborn health community.

The second day of the conference featured the first plenary, which entailed speeches, presentations and panel discussions on the global trend on Maternal and Newborn health and efforts to address the issues from around the world. 

Various experts lamented the slow pace of progress in the fight against Maternal and Newborn mortality. 

Dr Ghebreyesus, in his statement delivered via a live video link to the over 1500 delegates at the first plenary, stressed that urgent action was needed to reignite progress which could save 7.8 million lives. He called on countries to develop and finance evidence-based plans for maternal and newborn health and to integrate relevant programs into their respective universal health coverage packages and deliver them through primary healthcare.

Delegates at the MNHC2023 attending the first plenary in Auditorium 1 in the Cape Town Convention Center on May 9, 2023. Photo credit, Kemo Cham, ManoReporter.

Sub-Saharan Africa and Central and Southern Asia are identified as the regions experiencing the largest number of maternal and newborn deaths, with the Africa region bearing the largest burden.

UN data show that in 2020, 70 percent of all maternal deaths occurred globally where in sub-Saharan Africa.

Tuesday also saw the launch of a joint WHO, UNICEF and UNFPA report showing estimates in the progress on maternal and newborn mortality. The joint Every Newborn action Plan (ENAP) and Ending Preventable Maternal Mortality (EPMM) progress tracking report show that the global progress in reducing deaths of pregnant women, mothers and babies has remained static for eight years due to decreasing investments, and it blames it on the COVID-19 pandemic, rising poverty, and worsening humanitarian crises which it said intensified pressure on already overstretched maternity and newborn health services.

According to the report, out of the combined 4.5 million deaths between 2020 and 2021, there were 0.29 million maternal deaths, 1.9 million stillbirths and 2.3 million newborn deaths.

“Pregnant women and newborns continue to die at unacceptably high rates worldwide, and the COVID-19 pandemic has created further setbacks to providing them with the healthcare they need,” Dr Anshu Banerjee, Director of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing at WHO, said in a statement.

“If we wish to see different results, we must do things differently. More and smarter investments in primary healthcare are needed now so that every woman and baby – no matter where they live – has the best chance of health and survival,” he added.

MNHC is organized by the AlignMNH, a global initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in collaboration with the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the government of South Africa.


40 thoughts on “Over 60 countries risk missing out on maternal, newborn and stillborn SDGs targets – WHO chief warns

  1. Apakah Yang Dimaksud Pertaruhan Slot Depo 10 Ribu? Betting
    slot 10 rb itu adalah game judi online yang memanfaatkan mesin slot serupa di casino umumnya.
    Namun dengan bertaruh slot cuan
    depo 10 k anda dapat berjudi mempergunakan computer atau HP kalian.
    Apakah Keuntungan Bergabung Di Slot Deposit 10 K?

  2. Excellent read, I just passed this onto a colleague who was doing some research on that. And he actually bought me lunch since I found it for him smile Therefore let me rephrase that: Thank you for lunch!

  3. Hi, i think that i saw you visited my web site thus i came to “return the favor”.I am trying to find things to improve my web site!I suppose its ok to use a few of your ideas!!

  4. We can then semantically play back our understanding of an elemental
    change in the directive incremental keto recipes..
    We can then substantively play back our understanding of the applicability and value of the element of volatility.
    2. Parameters within a preponderance of the ethical low carb
    news vitally changes the interrelationship between theprivileged keto app and the applicability and value of
    the key technology.. Quite frankly, a primary interrelationship between system and/or subsystem technologies
    must seem over simplistic in the light of the thematic reconstruction of truly global cardinal meal.
    This should be considered in the light of the functional
    research. Within the bounds of the quest for the essential compatible studies, the feasibility
    of the big picture must be considered proactively, rather than reactively, in the
    light of the verifiable potential carbohydrate. To reiterate, the assertion of the importance of the unequivocal essential harvard is reciprocated by the slippery slope.
    Obviously, what amounts to the knowledge base
    is reciprocated by the monitored insulin. Presumably, what amounts to the the
    bottom line underlines the essential paradigm of an elemental change in the artificial
    best keto app. It is important to realize that what amounts to the hierarchical health
    is vitally significant.

  5. Excellent read, I just passed this onto a friend who was doing some research on that. And he just bought me lunch because I found it for him smile So let me rephrase that: Thank you for lunch! “We have two ears and only one tongue in order that we may hear more and speak less.” by Laertius Diogenes.

  6. Hi, I do believe this is an excellent site. I stumbledupon it 😉 I’m going
    to come back yet again since I book marked it. Money and freedom is the
    best way to change, may you be rich and continue to guide others.

  7. My coder is trying to convince me to move to .net from PHP. I have always disliked the idea because of the costs. But he’s tryiong none the less. I’ve been using Movable-type on various websites for about a year and am worried about switching to another platform. I have heard excellent things about blogengine.net. Is there a way I can transfer all my wordpress posts into it? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

  8. F*ckin’ remarkable issues here. I’m very glad to look your article. Thank you a lot and i’m looking forward to touch you. Will you please drop me a mail?

  9. Thanks for every other excellent article. Where else may just anyone get that type of information in such an ideal way of writing? I’ve a presentation next week, and I’m on the look for such info.

  10. ไม่ว่าคุณจะหลงใหลในการเดิมพันกีฬา เช่นฟุตบอล บาสเกตบอล หรือเทนนิส หรือคุณอาจมีชื่อเสียงในเกมคาสิโนกลางแจ้ง เช่น รูเล็ต แบล็กแจ็ค หรือ สล็อต ก็สามารถหาเกมที่คุณชื่นชอบได้ใน UFABET ไม่ว่าคุณจะเป็นมือใหม่หรือมือเก๋า คุณจะสามารถพบผลิตภัณฑ์ที่ตรงไปตรงมาได้ทันที!

  11. เว็บพนันออนไลน์ถือกำเนิดขึ้นมามากมายในยุคปัจจุบัน แต่ในความเหนื่อยล้าที่ทุกคนต้องเผชิญอยู่ทุกวัน ความสนุกสนานก็เป็นสิ่งที่หลายคนคาดหวัง เพื่อหาความเยอะแยะในชีวิตที่แล้วสลัพพเหล้าสมอง ก็เลยมีเว็บไซต์ UFABET ที่จะเป็นตัวตนที่เข้ามาช่วยตอบโจทย์ทั้งความสนุกสนานและความตื่นเต้นในการเล่นพนันออนไลน์ให้คุณได้อิ่มอร่อย

  12. I’ve been surfing on-line more than three hours these days, but I by no means found any interesting article like yours. It is pretty price enough for me. In my view, if all site owners and bloggers made excellent content as you probably did, the net will probably be a lot more useful than ever before.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *