Philippines struggles to lower

maternal mortality

The fight to lower maternal mortality in the Philippines turned a new leaf
three years ago on 20 April 2012 with the launch of the 162 to 52 Health
Summit.
The figures refer to the Philippines maternal mortality ratio of 162 maternal
deaths per 100,000 live births and the fifth Millennium Development
Goal (MDG) for maternal health of reducing these to 52 maternal deaths per
100,000 live births by 2015.
A coalition was created among interest groups from government, academia,
non-government and business sectors to pursue this MDG-5 target on
maternal health.
Dismaying figures
Recently, Janette Garin, acting secretary of the Department of Health (DOH),
reiterated the importance of multisectoral action on three related fronts:
collective public-private sector leadership, accessible and affordable
maternal care services and the greater use of these services by mothers.
The 162 to 52 Coalition must continue to be a catalyst for change, Garin
told coalition members.
Previous health secretaries had made similar exhortations. I made mine in
2003 when maternal mortality was estimated at 170 based on UNICEFs
State of the Worlds Children 2003 report.
As I perused the UNICEF report recently, this time using my new lens as an
academic, it dismayed me to see that Philippine figures have actually been
flat over the last 25 years. This was clear from the consolidated 19902013 data compiled by the WHO Global Health Observatory from various
sources (WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, World Bank and UN Population Division
Maternal Mortality): the mean values have hovered around 110 to 130, with
low and high estimates ranging respectively from 80 to 190.
In 2013, about 3,000 Filipino mothers died from childbirth out of 2.4 million
deliveries. Maternal mortality had settled at an unacceptably high level and
was in a steady state.
Source: http://www.scidev.net/asia-pacific/health/opinion/philippinesstruggles-to-lower-maternal-mortality.html