 12 March 2008
London—Sarah
Brown, wife of the UK Prime
Minister, has lent her
support to the Millennium
Development Goal of reducing
maternal mortality by 2015.
Speaking at an evening
reception for Women and
Children First, Sarah Brown
said: “What always
surprises me is how few
people are aware of the
scale of the maternity
mortality around the world. Maternal
mortality must not be the
forgotten target in the
Millennium Development
Goals. It needs to
be addressed in the same
way as other major health
problems, such as malaria,
and should have its own
global plan of action.”
Her comments came at the
end of a one-day conference
on 6 March, organised by
Women and Children First,
which brought together
delegates from sub-Saharan
Africa, South Asia, UK
NGOs and UN agencies.
Sarah Brown added: “I
am very grateful to Women & Children
First for bringing together
so many practitioners to
share their expertise and
to work together for real
change. The countdown to
2015 starts now. We need
to advocate for action
and improvement and I look
forward to working with
you in the coming months
and years.”
Earlier in the day the
UK’s Under-Secretary
of State for International
Development, Gillian Merron,
had stressed the government’s
commitment to reducing
global deaths in childbirth.
The Minister said the time
was right to build on momentum,
especially ahead of the
G8 summit in Japan in July.
“Improving maternal, newborn and child health in developing countries
is a priority for the UK government. I welcome this Women and Children First
event as an important opportunity to develop a more co-ordinated approach,” said
Gillian Merron.
“I am pleased that some progress has been made towards reducing child
deaths in the developing world, but it is not acceptable that a woman in
a country such as Sierra Leone is still 600 times more likely to die as a
result of pregnancy and childbirth than a woman in the UK.
“The UK Government's spending on maternal health is increasing year
on year. But much more needs to be done with governments, the United
Nations and non governmental organisations if the global community is to
achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.”
Another speaker, Dr Francisco
Songane, Director of the
World Health Organisation’s
Partnership for Maternal,
Newborn and Child Health,
said in reality an additional
US$10 billion a year is
needed if the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs)
on maternal and child health
are to be met by 2015.
Official figures for 2005
state that 536,000 women
die in childbirth every
year, but the number of
deaths could be as high
as 872,000. MDG 5
seeks to reduce the level
of maternal mortality by
75%, and has made the least
progress of all the MDGs.
Ms. Ros Davies, Chief Executive
of Women and Children First,
said: “We are extremely
grateful for the high level
commitment and support
for this critical issue
and we hope we can harness
this and translate it into
real action on the ground.
“Everyone must act now if we have any hope of meeting the target. We
know what needs to be done. We need more health clinics and equipment, trained
workers to deliver babies, safe abortion and full access to contraception
and all communities should be demanding these.”
Women and Children First
works to improve the health
and wellbeing of women
and children in developing
countries with a particular
focus on pregnancy and
the first 28 days of life.
Contact Information:
- Ros Davies, Chief Executive
Women & Children
First (UK)
info@wcf-uk.org [hyperlink
to same email
address]
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