LIVE UPDATES
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a baby or pregnant woman passes away once every seven seconds.
According to research released on Tuesday, the decline in sector investments is to blame for the rise in maternal and neonatal deaths.
The assessment of risk factors causes, and the provision of essential health services is part of research on enhancing mother and infant health, survival, and reducing stillbirth.
The analysis demonstrates that, with almost 290,000 maternal deaths annually, progress in improving survival has stalled since 2015.
Around 1.9 million stillbirths (babies that pass away after 28 weeks of pregnancy) and 2.3 million infant deaths occur each year.
One death occurs every seven seconds, or more than 4.5 million women and kids, during pregnancy, labor, or the first few weeks following birth.
According to the latest research, demands on already overburdened health services have increased due to COVID-19, rising poverty, and deteriorating humanitarian crises.
It raised worry that, of the more than 100 countries questioned, only one in ten have enough money to carry out their current goals.
The worst affected nations are those in Sub-Saharan Africa and Central and Southern Asia, where only 60% of pregnant women complete the WHO-recommended eight prenatal visits.
Dr. Anshu Banerjee, WHO's Director of Maternal, Newborn, Child, and Adolescent Health, lamented the high mortality rates of expectant mothers and babies around the world.
Dr. Anshu Banerjee statement:
"We need to act differently. To ensure that every pregnant woman and her child have the best chance of health and survival, more and wiser investments in primary healthcare are required.
The death of any pregnant woman or young girl is a violation of human rights, according to Dr. Julitta Onabanjo, Technical Division Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
Dr. Julitta Onabanjo Statement:
"It reflects the urgent need to scale-up access to quality sexual and reproductive health services as part of universal health coverage and primary health care."
