Over Half a Million Women Die Every Year During Childbirth

One of the eight UN Millennium Development Goals approved by world leaders in September 2000 is to reduce maternal mortality by 75 per cent by the year 2015. With the deadline just ten years down the road, maternal mortality indicators retain the disturbing distinction of being a major health problem. Globally, over half a million women die every year during childbirth and a large number who are unable to prevent unwanted pregnancies face a higher risk of unsafe abortions, other complications and death.

This alarming state of affairs was the focus of discussion at AKU’s annual National Health Sciences Research Symposium, held in Karachi in September 2004 and titled ‘Reproductive Health – A Life Cycle Approach’. Reputed experts from Pakistan, Egypt, India, Europe, the Middle and Far East, and USA addressed an array of issues including maternal mortality, reproductive behaviour of men and women, fertility regulation, maternal and infant health, adolescent reproductive health, emergency obstetric care, gynaecological cancers and family planning programmes.

Unveiling staggering worldwide figures, keynote speaker Professor S. Arulkumaran, Secretary General of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, said that more than half a million women die in childbirth and 20 million related morbidities occur every year. He added that “at least 120 million women who do not wish to become pregnant do not possess the means to prevent it.”

Professor Arulkumaran suggested a life cycle approach to improve reproductive health in developing countries, stressing that new health policies, action plans and interventions were the need of the hour. Operational research, he added, should be undertaken to identify the most effective strategies. “Reproductive health should be built into the national health service framework and be made part of the Millennium Development Goals,” concluded Professor Arulkumaran.

Underscoring the need for research, Dr Javed Rizvi, Professor and Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, AKU, said that data on reproductive health in developing countries was inadequate. Citing the absence of reliable figures for maternal mortality in Pakistan as an example, Dr Rizvi said “it is important that developing countries cease to regard research as a luxury they can ill afford. We need to define what type of health delivery is possible, acceptable and affordable in our environment.” Funding is an issue, he said, but “the key is to develop proposals that are simple, doable and which will yield realistic outcomes that can be implemented.” Partnership with government, NGOs, research institutions and the pharmaceutical industry will help translate research into practice, added Dr Rizvi.

Dr Mehtab Karim, Professor and Head of the Reproductive Health Programme at the Department of Community Health Sciences, AKU, explained that reproductive health issues are not age-bound but rather encompass a lifetime. He said thorough research needs to be carried out on each component of the National Reproductive Health Services package – family planning, maternal health care, infant health care and sexually transmitted diseases – which the Government of Pakistan introduced in 1999 in view of the country’s poor reproductive health indicators. Dr Karim also provided insight into the reproductive health studies being undertaken at AKU, such as research on maternal health, family planning, neonatal and infant health, and sexually transmitted diseases.

The symposium included workshops for selected participants, providing young and upcoming investigators and health care practitioners invaluable hands-on experience in the methodologies and techniques currently employed in the area of reproductive health.