One Death In Pregnancy Per Minute, Says UNFPA

More women die in childbirth than in wars, according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). And every minute, a woman dies in childbirth. This adds up to some 500,000 deaths across the globe per year.

This week, UNFPA organized a high level meeting of over 150 health ministers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to bring together decision makers to take the urgent action needed to tackle maternal mortality. In Ethiopia, there is only one midwife per 20,000 women of child bearing age. Most women in rural areas have to walk some 300 kilometers while in labor to get to the health center. Most die on the way, or face serious complications like obstetric fistula.

UNFPA hopes the Meeting will provide the opportunity for ministers to share best practices and lessons learned in reproductive health. UNFPA estimates by 2015, between $5.5 billion and $6.1 billion in additional funding will be needed from domestic and international sources to accomplish Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 5 to improve maternal health.

Results from the meeting will be shared with parliamentarians from across the globe at the International Conference for Population and Development (ICPD/15) which will take place in Addis Ababa later this week.