World Health Day: Aid cuts threaten progress on ending maternal deaths, UN warns

The United Nations has warned that recent cuts in global health aid could reverse decades of progress in reducing maternal deaths, even as a new report shows fewer women are dying during pregnancy and childbirth than in the early 2000s.

In a report released to mark World Health Day on Sunday, the UN revealed that maternal deaths dropped by 40 per cent globally between 2000 and 2023, thanks to improved access to essential health services.

However, progress has slowed sharply since 2016, and an estimated 260,000 women still died from pregnancy-related causes in 2023 — about one every two minutes.

The report, Trends in maternal mortality, was jointly published by the World Health Organisation, UNICEF, UNFPA and the World Bank.It raised alarm over severe funding cuts that are already forcing some countries to scale back services for pregnant women, newborns and children.

“While this report shows glimmers of hope, the data also highlights how dangerous pregnancy still is in much of the world today despite the fact that solutions exist to prevent and treat the complications that cause the vast majority of maternal deaths,” said the Director-General of the World Health Organisation, Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus.

Ghebreyesus added, “In addition to ensuring access to quality maternity care, it will be critical to strengthen the underlying health and reproductive rights of women and girls – factors that underpin their prospects of healthy outcomes during pregnancy and beyond.”