HRC 14 Interactive Panel on Maternal Mortality
Australian Intervention
14 June 2010
Intervention made by Ms Callista Harris
530 000 women and girls die every year from largely preventable complications related to pregnancy and delivery and 99 per cent of these deaths occur in developing countries. In Papua New Guinea, a woman has a life time risk of dying due to a pregnancy complication of 1 in 55 whilst in Australia this risk is 1 in 13,300. Across African countries the life time risk is 1 in 26.
Millennium Development Goal 5 on maternal health has made the least progress of all the MDGs and many countries will not meet their targets by 2015. Maternal deaths are particularly high in our region – in countries such as Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Papua New Guinea and East Timor. Australia also recognises that more needs to be done at home. Between 2003 and 2005, Indigenous women were more than two and a half times more likely to die during pregnancy and childbirth than non-indigenous women.
The vast majority of maternal deaths can be prevented through seeking health care services earlier, by improved transport to health facilities, and access to family planning, antenatal care, skilled health workers assisting at the birth and emergency obstetric care. Can the panel suggest ways in which countries with very remote areas can most effectively facilitate access to health care services?
Gender inequality and discrimination against women and girls is one of the leading causes of maternal mortality. If we are to improve the lives of women we must focus our effort on comprehensive strategies that target root causes of gender inequality, such as discrimination against women and girls, poverty, exclusion and harmful traditional practices. We must implement policies to ensure women’s access to affordable and adequate health services and we must strengthen partnerships and international cooperation with the international community, civil society and the private sector.
The Taskforce on Innovative International Financing for Health Systems, launched to help achieve the health Millennium Development Goals, estimates that A$276 billion is required between 2009-2015 to achieve the health MDGs in 49 low income countries. Australia firmly believes that investing in the lives of mothers and their babies saves money, increases productivity and promotes social stability. This is why, through our aid program, Australia is helping countries in our region deliver better maternal and child health services and improve the functioning of health systems that support them. In 2009-10, Australia spent approximately A$195 million on maternal and child health and this is expected to increase as new programs begin next year in Africa and the Asia Pacific.
Eliminating preventable maternal mortality and morbidity will not be easy, it means addressing issues such as health financing, the health workforce, the procurement and distribution of medicines, vaccines, commodities and equipment, infrastructure, information systems and service delivery. It also means ensuring women’s rights to participate in decision-making which affects their sexual and reproductive health, and working to combat discrimination and violence against women and girls. In the panel’s view, how can countries better ensure women have a role in decision-making that affects their health?