SAM Daily Times

''PREGNANCY RELATED DEATHS FALL WORLDWIDE'' 

By Abel Abel Inis

University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria

The number of women worldwide who died from pregnancy related complications each year fell from 12M in 1990 to 7.6M in 2010, according to a new report.

Child death rates in many African countries have dropped twice as fast in recent years as during the '90s.

In Botswana, Egypt, Tanzania, Malawi and Rwanda, the rate of decline was an average of 5% or more a year, between 2000 and 2010, according to the report released by the Countdown to 2015 initiative, an international advocacy group. Despite this good news, too many women and children are still dying, according to the report written by an International group of Academics and Professionals. Every two minutes, a woman somewhere dies from pregnancy related complications and her new born's chances of survival are very poor. Also every two minutes , nearly 30 young children die of disease and illness that could have been prevented. The report also noted that many countries in Africa and South Asia are not making progress.