In 2000 it was declared that one of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) was improve maternal health in the world, setting goals to reduce maternal mortality by three quarters between 1990 and 2015, and achieve universal coverage of specialized delivery assistance by 2015. This is MDG number five.
We saw a few days ago that maternal health data in the world are often discouraging, and that the objectives are far from being achieved even if some progress has been achieved. Let's see what is being done to reduce maternal mortality in the world.
He Department Reduce Pregnancy Risks of WHO was founded in January 2005 to accelerate progress towards the achievement of MDG 5, taking advantage of the experience of previous projects, such as the Initiative for Safe Motherhood (1987-2000) and the Initiative to Reduce Pregnancy Risks (2000 -2004) of the WHO Department of Reproductive Health and Related Research.
As we know, it is the developing countries that suffer the most cases of preventable deaths, so that the activities of the MPS Department focus on 75 priority countries in which 97% of all maternal deaths are recorded.
The main objective of the Department is improve maternal and neonatal health providing guidance and encouraging clinical interventions and programs of proven efficacy. Its cornerstone is the Integrated Pregnancy and Childbirth Care (IMPAC) strategy, which offers guidance and tools to increase women's access to quality health services.
Specialized care is encouraged for all births, which makes them deliveries with less risk of perinatal death. Also, as more midwives are needed in the world, educational modules have been developed for the training of midwives, and in the WHO regions training courses for midwifery instructors have been given.
In addition, the Department to reduce Pregnancy Risks encourages individual, family and community participation in activities aimed at increasing access to quality care.
However, work continues on these points, since it is necessary to strengthen the monitoring of maternal health in the world and the coverage of services. In this way the progress made towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goal to improve maternal health in the world. Are countries that can help with this willing?
