Women’s Health – A Continuing Challenge in Developing Countries

For justifiable reasons, the health of women in developing countries is presently an important public health concern throughout the world. In 1987, the international safe motherhood initiative was launched in Nairobi, Kenya, with the objective to reduce the number of women who die during childbirth by 50% by the year 2000. In 2007, available evidence indicates that very little progress has been made in achieving this goal in many developing countries. Current estimates indicate that during the 20 year period between 1987 and 2007, over 10 million maternal deaths occurred worldwide (at a rate of half a million deaths each year). More than 99 per cent of these deaths occurred in developing countries Maternal death is one indicator that illustrates the huge disparity that exists between rich and poor countries, and between rich and poor women in all countries. According to WHO statistics, one in six women in Afghanistan, and one in 18 in Nigeria die each year from pregnancy-related complications; compared to one in 2,500 in the United States and one in 29,800 in Sweden. In addition to the large number of maternal deaths, women in developing countries suffer long term complications of pregnancy such as vesicovaginal fistula that are extremely rare in developed countries.