Source: Daily Independent
Six of the 10 countries that carry most of the burden of maternal deaths in the world are from Africa. This was highlighted from the newly-published report, "Trends in maternal mortality estimates 1990 to 2013".

The countries are: Nigeria (40,000 deaths), Democratic Republic of the Congo (21,000), Ethiopia (13,000), Tanzania (7,900), Kenya (6,300) and Uganda (5,900).

Together with India (50,000), Indonesia (8,800), Pakistan (7,900) and China (5,900), the 10 countries accounted for about 60 per cent of global maternal deaths, said the report. This was made available to PANA on Tuesday by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

It said Somalia, where women face a 1 in 18, and Chad, where women face a 1 in 15 risk, have the highest risk The report showed that maternal mortality has declined globally in 2013.

The global maternal mortality ratio (MMR) was 210 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, down from 380 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 1990 a 45 per cent reduction.

It also showed that the global reduction of MMR has accelerated, with a 3.5 per cent annual decline from 2000 to 2013, as compared with 1.4 per cent between 1990 and 2000.

However, it said that at current trends, most countries would not achieve the MDG target of a 75 per cent reduction in MMR from 1990 to 2015, saying that an average decline of 5.5 per cent or more every year since 1990 is needed to meet the target on time.

Trends in maternal mortality estimate 1990 to 2013 is published by the Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-Agency Group (MMEIG) which includes the WHO, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the UN Population Division (UNPD) and the World Bank Group.