Millennium Development Goal 5: Improve maternal health
Every year more than half a million women die from complications in pregnancy and childbirth. Over 300 million suffer from avoidable illness and disability. Globally some 210 million women and men who say they would like to use family planning do not have adequate access to good quality contraception.
The maternal health Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 5 aims to improve maternal health. There are two targets: one to reduce maternal deaths and the other to provide universal access to reproductive health. Little progress has been made over the past two decades and MDG 5 is severely off-track.
Maternal deaths represent the greatest indicator of inequity between rich and poor women. In the poorest parts of the world, the risk of a woman dying as a result of pregnancy or childbirth is about 1 in 6. In Northern Europe the risk is about 1 in 30,000.
In order to attain the maternal health MDG a concentrated, sustained, long-term investment in health services and health infrastructure is required. This includes having skilled birth attendants who have supplies and equipment, improving access to family planning services and action to address the issue of unsafe abortion.
Improving the status of women and promoting their rights are also critical. Ensuring access to reproductive health and family planning services for all could help avert up to 35% of maternal deaths.
DFID’s maternal health strategy sets out DFID's four main priorities:
advocate – raise the profile of maternal health
- scale-up evidence-based interventions – including support to health systems to deliver more effective maternal health services
- address wider social and economic barriers to maternal health – including focusing on promoting women's status and rights
- develop and apply more knowledge - undertake new research and communicate new and existing research.
DFID published the
third annual update
of progress
(712kb) in implementing the 2004 maternal health strategy in June
2008. Progress during 2007 includes increasing activity and advocacy on MDG 5 at
global and country levels – as well as work to address socio-economic barriers
to help overcome the prohibitive costs of safe delivery for the poor.
The UK Government’s updated AIDS strategy
Achieving Universal Access
(4mb) emphasises the importance of
integration of sexual and reproductive health and rights, including maternal
health, with HIV and AIDS. The UK will also work with others to intensify
international efforts to halve unmet demand for family planning by 2010, to
achieve Universal Access to family planning by 2015.
Links
- Maternal Health Strategy – Third Progress Report - Press release, 1 July 2008
- Launch of updated AIDS strategy – Achieving Universal Access
- UK boosts global AIDS response - Press release, 2 June 2008
UN MDG indicators site
Last updated: 18 September 2008
