Every minute somewhere in the world a woman dies due to complications during pregnancy and childbirth, accounting for more than half a million maternal deaths per year. Every minute eight newborns die, adding another 3 million per year to the infant mortality statistics.
No country is exempt from this sad reality. There are, however, huge discrepancies between regions, countries and even within countries, with poor and rural women being the most affected. Today, 68 countries account for 97 per cent of maternal, newborn and child deaths, most of them in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. In 2005, ninety-nine per cent of an estimated total of 536,000 maternal deaths worldwide occurred in developing countries. Some countries in sub-Saharan Africa have a maternal mortality rate of more than 1,000 deaths per 100,000 live births while in Sweden, for example, only three mothers die per 100,000 live births.
From 26 to 28 November 2008, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Parliament of the Netherlands (Staten-General) jointly organized a three-day Conference on Parliaments take action on Maternal and Newborn Health. The Conference brought together members of parliament from more than 35 countries to share experiences and identify key priority actions to achieve Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 4 and 5 on newborn survival and maternal health respectively. HRH Princess Máxima of the Netherlands supported the initiative by attending one of the meeting’s sessions.
Participants began their work with one clear starting point: most of these deaths are preventable and progress is possible. The task may seem overwhelming at first and there is certainly no single solution to address these challenges and reach objectives. Rather, there are a variety of approaches, reflecting the diversity of situations and country experiences. The purpose of the meeting, therefore, was to offer members of parliament a forum to share experiences and concerns, strategize and ultimately create knowledge and build relationships for effective action. For that, an original approach, combining plenary inputs with interactive sessions, was adopted.
At the close of the three days of debate, the Conference adopted a roadmap to support MPs in their work in their respective parliaments. The roadmap identifies 7 key priority areas - political commitment; an effective legal framework; financial resourcing; building the health system; development of educational strategies and programmes; addressing cultural practices; and building partnerships.
Participants pledged to follow up in their respective countries and report back on initiatives taken at the next IPU Assembly, to be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. MDGs 4 and 5 are objectives to which all countries have committed. Although they are far from being achieved, they are all achievable.
