Women education, empowerment key to saving lives: UNICEF report
Women education, empowerment key to saving lives: UNICEF report
Every year 216,000 newborns die in Pakistan before their first month, while 58 percent children die before reaching the age of fiveBy Atif KhanISLAMABAD: Pakistan has the eighth highest rate of deaths among children under one month in the world and 500 newborns die every day, says “The State of the World’s Children 2009” report launched by UNICEF here on Thursday.
According to the report, out of nearly 200 countries, Pakistan ranks eighth highest and the countries ranking above Pakistan are Afghanistan and Iraq.The report says 53 children die out of 1,000 live births. Every year 216,000 newborns die in Pakistan before reaching the first month of their birth, while 58 percent children die before reaching the age of five. Most of these deaths take place in the first month of usually at home and without access to essential health services and basic life saving medicines.The under five-mortality rate is 28 percent higher in rural areas than in urban areas. In rural areas, it is 100 and in urban areas 78 children die out of 1,000 live births.One in every 89 Pakistani women will die due childbirth related causes compared to one in 8,000 in the developed world. The maternal mortality rate is 276 deaths per 100,000 live births in Pakistan compared to eight per 100,000 live births in the developed world.In rural areas of Balochistan, the maternal rate jumps to 785 deaths per 100,000 live births, which is triple the national rate of 276 deaths per 100,000 live births. Likewise, in other rural areas of the country, including southern Punjab and Sindh, the maternal mortality is nearly twice compared to that in cities. CAUSES: About 40 percent of newborn deaths are due to asphyxia (oxygen deprivation), 20 percent die due to infections and 16 percent due to premature birth.The major causes of newborn deaths are lack of mother’s access to nutritional food, lack of access to skilled birth attendants, lack of education, lack of use of contraceptives to space births, and little or no knowledge about childhood illness and treatment.The report suggests that supporting the education and empowerment of women is key to saving lives. Educated women marry later than uneducated ones and are likely to not suffer the complications of early pregnancy; they can use good nutrition during pregnancy and good health choices.UNICEF’S Representative: UNICEF’S Representative in Pakistan Martin Mogwanja held Pakistan’s inadequate public health care system responsible for the high mortality rates.“It is no secret that Pakistan’s health system does not adequately serve those who need it simply due to lack of funds,” he said while launching the report.He said it had been estimated that quality basic health services needed a per capita expenditure of at least $45 per year (international standards for minimum per capita expense for quality basic health services), but Pakistan spends only $ 18 on health per person per year, out of which only $4 is public expenditure while remaining is spend by private. He said burden on poorest parts of the society was huge and any medical emergency could leave families destitute.
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Every year 216,000 newborns die in Pakistan before their first month, while 58 percent children die before reaching the age of fiveBy Atif KhanISLAMABAD: Pakistan has the eighth highest rate of deaths among children under one month in the world and 500 newborns die every day, says “The State of the World’s Children 2009” report launched by UNICEF here on Thursday.
According to the report, out of nearly 200 countries, Pakistan ranks eighth highest and the countries ranking above Pakistan are Afghanistan and Iraq.The report says 53 children die out of 1,000 live births. Every year 216,000 newborns die in Pakistan before reaching the first month of their birth, while 58 percent children die before reaching the age of five. Most of these deaths take place in the first month of usually at home and without access to essential health services and basic life saving medicines.The under five-mortality rate is 28 percent higher in rural areas than in urban areas. In rural areas, it is 100 and in urban areas 78 children die out of 1,000 live births.One in every 89 Pakistani women will die due childbirth related causes compared to one in 8,000 in the developed world. The maternal mortality rate is 276 deaths per 100,000 live births in Pakistan compared to eight per 100,000 live births in the developed world.In rural areas of Balochistan, the maternal rate jumps to 785 deaths per 100,000 live births, which is triple the national rate of 276 deaths per 100,000 live births. Likewise, in other rural areas of the country, including southern Punjab and Sindh, the maternal mortality is nearly twice compared to that in cities. CAUSES: About 40 percent of newborn deaths are due to asphyxia (oxygen deprivation), 20 percent die due to infections and 16 percent due to premature birth.The major causes of newborn deaths are lack of mother’s access to nutritional food, lack of access to skilled birth attendants, lack of education, lack of use of contraceptives to space births, and little or no knowledge about childhood illness and treatment.The report suggests that supporting the education and empowerment of women is key to saving lives. Educated women marry later than uneducated ones and are likely to not suffer the complications of early pregnancy; they can use good nutrition during pregnancy and good health choices.UNICEF’S Representative: UNICEF’S Representative in Pakistan Martin Mogwanja held Pakistan’s inadequate public health care system responsible for the high mortality rates.“It is no secret that Pakistan’s health system does not adequately serve those who need it simply due to lack of funds,” he said while launching the report.He said it had been estimated that quality basic health services needed a per capita expenditure of at least $45 per year (international standards for minimum per capita expense for quality basic health services), but Pakistan spends only $ 18 on health per person per year, out of which only $4 is public expenditure while remaining is spend by private. He said burden on poorest parts of the society was huge and any medical emergency could leave families destitute.
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