Death at birth

Women’s health in Pakistan is a largely ignored topic. But if recent reports are anything to go by, it is evident that there are no grounds for this complacency. In fact, a recent UN report released on World Health Day (April 7) highlights a disturbing truth: Pakistan was among the four countries that accounted for nearly half of the estimated 260,000 maternal deaths worldwide in 2023. The other three were: Nigeria, India and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Nigeria had the highest number (75,000), while Pakistan recorded 11,000 deaths, representing 4.1 per cent of the global total. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), every day, 675 babies under one month and 27 mothers die from preventable complications in Pakistan, amounting to over 9,800 maternal and 246,300 newborn deaths each year. Pakistan also registers more than 190,000 stillbirths annually. Given the current economic situation, the future does not seem bright. US President Donald Trump is running his presidency on the lines of a bizarre and badly-thought thriller where each chapter brings a new twist. Right after assuming his office, Trump announced cuts in US funding to several institutions, including health organisations working in developing regions.

Now, the latest, horrifying report warns that cuts to aid funding are jeopardising progress in reducing maternal deaths, despite a 40 per cent global decline since 2000. It calls for even more investment in healthcare workers, especially midwives, and highlights the disproportionate impact on women in humanitarian settings, where nearly two-thirds of maternal deaths occur. The report also provides the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on maternal survival (a topic that has rarely been discussed in the mainstream media). An estimated 40,000 more women died due to pregnancy or childbirth in 2021, rising to 282,000 in 2022 and to 322,000 the following year. This not only points to Covid-related complications suffered by mothers but also highlights how disruptions in healthcare services due to the pandemic affected mothers’ health.

Now that policymakers here in Pakistan have the required data, it is important for them to work out plans to improve maternal health. While it is true that US aid cuts could be fatal for us, our authorities are also responsible for coming up with a Plan B to improve healthcare. Both the federal and provincial governments have to realise that a year-long economic crunch has eroded people’s purchasing power. Most people cannot afford the necessary vitamins and other supplements required during pregnancy. The small stipend that the government’s welfare schemes provide is often not spent on mothers – out of sheer helplessness as the mothers prefer spending that sum on their children or family to keep the house running. Pakistan is badly stuck in a whirlpool of poverty and lack of knowledge. The concept of spacing out pregnancies is still unique here where weak bodies keep producing one child after the other. The government must coordinate with healthcare organisations to start awareness camps to inform people how to look after their health. Our children and our women need our attention, and it is time we focused on them.