Harare, 17 February 2004 -- An African expert on reproductive health on Monday in Harare painted a grim picture of maternal and child health in the Region and warned that the situation could worsen in the next decade if no immediate remedial actions were taken by Africa's governments and development partners.

"If nothing is done to arrest the trend (of high and growing maternal and child deaths), it is estimated that there will be 2.5 million maternal deaths, 2.5 million child deaths and 49 million maternal disabilities in the Region over the next 10 years, Prof. Joseph Kasonde told an on-going three-day regional meeting in the Zimbabwean capital on reducing maternal and child deaths.

"The problem is more than one of mortality," Prof. Kasonde said. "For every woman that dies, there are at least 20 to 30 who suffer long term disabilities."

He noted that more than half of the 600,000 women who die every year from pregnancy-related causes were in the African Region which constitutes only 12% of the world's population and 17% of its births.

Maternal mortality ratio in Africa remains the highest in the world with the average actually increasing from 870 per 100,000 live births in 1990 to 1,000 per 100,000 live births in 2001.

"Pregnancy in adolescence presents a unique and frightening picture," Prof. Kasonde stated, adding that 13% of all maternal deaths occurred in adolescents, 14 million of whom gave birth annually worldwide. He attributed the high fertility in Africa partly to early childbirth. 

Prof. Kasonde stated that in spite of the somber picture, two major initiatives launched in the past two decades had helped to stem the tide of maternal and child deaths in Africa.

These include the Safe Motherhood Initiative launched in 1987 which drew attention to the multifaceted nature of the problem and the need to invest in five key critical areas: human rights, empowerment of women, education, socio-economic development and the improvement of health systems.

The Making Pregnancy Safer Initiative, launched in 2000, focused on the health sector and its crucial role in accelerating maternal maternity reduction. The aim of the Initiative was to ensure that women and their newborns have access to the care they need through the strengthening of health systems and appropriate community-level actions."

Prof. Kasonde stated that in spite of the harsh economic environment prevailing in Africa, the application of appropriate policies by governments would lead to improvements in the outcome of pregnancies irrespective of the economic status of countries.

According to him, it was now time for African governments to focus on the availability of and accessibility to emergency obstetric care because emergencies constituted a major risk for maternal mortality in Africa.

Other essential interventions, he said, were the reorganization of health systems, the strengthening of midwifery skills, and increasing the number of skilled birth attendants.

Prof. Kasonde concluded his presentation with a four-pronged call for action: action to place maternal and newborn health high on the agenda of governments and partners; to review policies, guidelines and programmes; to allocate and release resources and action to harness resources from communities and partners.

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