Help cuts more women who die during pregnancy and birth, the UN warns

• Help cuts result in “pandemic effects” on health systems.
  
• It may have further “more structural, deep effect: Dr. Aylward.
• Vital services for the parent, newborn, the health of the raised children.

London: Cuts to boost budgets threaten to undermine chronic progress in reducing the number of women who die during pregnancy and childbirth and could lead to increased deaths, the United Nations warned.

Worldwide, there was a 40% reduction in mothers’ deaths between 2000 and 2023, an report by United Nations Organizations, including the World Health Organization (which) it showed Monday, mainly due to better access to basic health services.

This could now go to the opposite position, which stated in a statement accompanying the report that did not mention specific cuts, but came after a foreign freezer from the US government and the end of funding through the USAid International Development Service (USAID).

Other donors, including Britain, have also announced plans to reduce assistance budgets.

“One of the head messages is that funding reduces the risk not only this progress, but we could have a backward shift,” said Dr. Bruce Aylward, assistant general manager of the universal health coverage in WHO.

The cuts had “pandemic -like effects” on health systems worldwide and could have a “more structural, profound effect,” Aylward added.

Those who reported that the cuts had already reversed vital services for the motherboard, newborn and the health of children in many countries, reducing staff numbers, closing facilities and supply chains for supplies, including bleeding treatments and pre-sealing.

Cuts in other areas, such as malaria and HIV treatment, will also affect maternal survival, the UN said.

Even before the US -led help cuts, things have been back in some countries and progress was slowed worldwide since 2016, the report said.

In 2023, despite recent progress, a woman still died about every two minutes – about 260,000 in total that year – from complications that were mainly preventive and therapeutic, she added.

The situation was particularly bad in countries affected by conflict or natural disasters, although the US itself is one of four countries that have significantly seen the rate of maternal mortality since 2000, along with Venezuela, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica.

The Covid-19 pandemic also had an impact, the report said: 40,000 more women died due to pregnancy or childbirth in 2021, bringing the total number of deaths that year to 322,000.

“While this report shows Glimmers of Hope, the data also emphasizes how dangerous pregnancy is still in much of the world today-despite the fact that there are solutions,” said General Manager Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.