DR GUTIERREZ... we have not seen an improvement in maternal and neonatal deaths in the region

SAN DIEGO, USA - Dr Isaias Gutierrez, area manager for planning, programme budget and project support at the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) says more emphasis needs to be placed on reducing maternal mortality, which kills more than 20,000 women annually in Latin America and the Caribbean.

According, to Dr Gutierrez, many countries have not been able to reduce their maternal mortality deaths, which is almost 100 per cent avoidable, despite the efforts being made.

"We have not seen an improvement in maternal and neonatal deaths," he said.

"Almost no one is investing in (improving) maternal mortality deaths... but we need to invest in this area in order to make progress."

Dr Gutierrez, who was speaking at the Fifth Annual Workshop on Health in Latin America and the Caribbean here on Wednesday, pointed out that the main causes of maternal mortality include high blood pressure, obesity, alcohol use, unsafe abortions and smoking.

Maternal mortality refers to women who die during pregnancy while neonatal mortality is when infants die within 28 days after birth. Statistics show that 24 per cent of maternal deaths are due to haemorrhage, almost 15 per cent occur because of sepsis (infection), close to 13 per cent is related to complications during abortion, while a similar number is linked to high blood pressure.

Jamaica's maternal mortality rate is 87 per 100,000. According to Dr Gutierrez, the Caribbean a on whole has seen a reduction in maternal deaths, but stressed that there is room for improvement. Additionally, he said the region has done well in family planning and reducing the rate of infant mortality and should now begin to rigorously tackle non-communicable diseases.

"Right now 22,000 pregnant women are dying every year. That is unacceptable because at this time, the technology and the knowledge to avoid these deaths are available so the problem is an ethical one and one of civil rights," he told the Observer.

"Why is this happening? It is because we are not investing what we should," he emphasised.
According to Dr Gutierrez, inadequate access to health care and preventable complications during delivery are major contributing factors to maternal deaths.

"These people are poor women with lack of information and education... and these people cannot demand for their rights to be respected," he told the Observer. "At this time I think that no woman should die because of pregnancy, that is not acceptable at this time."

In the meantime, he disclosed that there were 200,000 neonatal deaths in Latin America and the Caribbean but said up to 70 per cent of causes, which included asphyxia and low birth weight, were avoidable.

In 2001, Jamaica's neonatal deaths stood at 24.5 per 1,000 live births.

Dr Gutierrez said though it might be costly, investing in improving health services would foster a drastic improvement in maternal and neonatal deaths.

"If you invest, you can do it," he said.

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