Maternal mortality falls by almost 50% - UN report
Pregnancy-related deaths have fallen by almost half in the past 25 years, according to a report by United Nations agencies published in The Lancet.
Maternal mortality has fallen by almost half since 1990
12 November 2012
Around 303,000 women died of complications during pregnancy or up to six weeks after giving birth in 2015 - down from 532,000 in 1990.
Officials from the World Health Organisation (WHO) said the results showed "huge progress".
However, only nine countries hit targets set by the UN.
"This report will show that by the end of 2015 maternal mortality will have dropped by 44% from its levels from 1990," said Dr Lale Say, coordinator for reproductive health and research at the WHO.
But she warned that the progress was "uneven" - with 99% of deaths happening in developing countries.
While 39 countries reported "significant progress" in reducing pregnancy-related deaths, only nine countries achieved their targets.
"Many countries with high maternal death rates will make little progress, or will fall behind, over the next 15 years if we don't improve the current number of available midwives and other health workers with midwifery skills," said Dr Babatunde Osotimehin, executive director of the UN Population Fund.
Eastern Asia saw the greatest improvement, with maternal mortality falling from approximately 95 to 27 per 100,000 live births.
The UN now aims to reduce the global ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 by 2030.
Child mortality falls by 50% since 1990 - report
Child mortality has fallen by more than 50% since 1990, a report by the World Health Organization and UN children's agency Unicef says.
The greatest risk is during the first few days after birth, the report says9 September 2015
It says that 25 years ago 12.7 million children under five died, but this year the figure is projected to drop below six million for the first time.
But aid agencies warn that huge challenges remain.
They point out that the UN target of reducing child mortality by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015 will not be met.
The rate fell by 53% over this period, the report says.
Stark inequality
"We have to acknowledge tremendous global progress," said Unicef's deputy executive director Geeta Rao Gupta.
"But the far too large number of children still dying from preventable causes before their fifth birthday... should impel us to redouble our efforts to do what we know needs to be done".
Lowest and highest rates of child deaths
- Luxemburg and Nordic countries including as Iceland, Finland and Norwayare among those with the lowest deaths among under fives with less than three per 1,000 births
- Oil-rich Angola has the highest rate of child deaths up to 254 per 1,000 births, followed by Somalia, Chad and Central African Republic
* Figures from World Health Organization Child Mortality Report based on the upper bound figure for deaths of children under five per 1,000 live births in 2015
The report says that 16,000 children under the age of five still die every day. Many become victims of preventable illnesses such as pneumonia, diarrhoea or malaria.
And almost half the deaths are linked to malnutrition, the document says.
The greatest risk is during the first few days after birth - 45% of all deaths occur before the child is a month old.
The report also highlights the stark inequality of life chances for the world's children.
It says that those born in sub-Saharan Africa have a 1-in-12 chance of dying before their fifth birthday. In wealthy nations the risk is 1-in-147.
