India had more than 10,000 maternal deaths in 2020, says WHO report

X: @prashanthamine

Mumbai: Contrary to the Union Government’s tagline of “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao”, India had more than 10,000 maternal deaths during pregnancy in 2020, 24,000 maternal deaths which was 8.3% of the global maternal death ratio, says a World Health Organization (WHO) report that was released on March 7 to coincide with the International Womens Day on Saturday. What is worse is that India gets bracketed in the report along with African countries like Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Ethiopia.

According to the WHO report, the General Fertility Rate (GFR) which was 110 per 1,000 women in the age bracket of 15 to 49 years in year 2000, fell to 100 in 2005, further fell to 80 in 2010, came further down to 70 in 2015 and then came down to 60 per 1,000 in 2020.

The WHO report titled, “Trends in maternal mortality 2000 to 2020 Estimates by WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, World Bank Group and UNDESA/Population Division”, was released yesterday to highlight the worldwide grim scenario concerning death of pregnant women during pregnancy.

As per the WHO report, among the other countries having highest estimated number of maternal deaths, three other countries also had more than 10,000 maternal deaths in 2020, India accounted for 24,000 (8.3%), Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) 22,000 (7.5%) and Ethiopia 10,000 (3.6%) maternal deaths. Nigeria had the highest estimated number of maternal deaths, accounting for over one-quarter (28.5%) of all estimated global maternity deaths in 2020.

The WHO report attributes these high ratios of Maternal Mortality Rates (MMRs) to four major causes – 1. health system failures that translate to – (i) delay in seeking care and receiving care after reaching the health-care facility, (ii) poor quality of care, (iii) shortages of essential medical supplies, and (iv) the poor accountability of health systems; 2. Social determinants, including income, access to education, race and ethnicity, that put some sub-populations at greater risk; 3. Harmful gender norms, biases and inequalities that result in a low prioritization of the rights of women and girls, including their right to safe, quality and affordable sexual and reproductive health services; and 4. External factors contributing to instability and health system fragility, such as climate and humanitarian crises.

In order to address the issues, the WHO report calls for a four pronged agenda to bring down the Maternal Mortality Rate.

First, greater recognition and collective action is needed to address systemic health system issues that impede access to safe, quality, respectful and affordable sexual and reproductive health care.

Second, a lack of access to care and poor quality of care disproportionately affect already socially marginalized women and girls. Interventions must recognize and address social determinants of maternal health, including ethnicity, age, disability, and socioeconomic inequalities, which impede women’s access to and use of sexual and reproductive health services.

Third, improving maternal health requires intersectoral action from a stronger gender and human-rights perspective to improve women’s empowerment, eliminate poverty and reduce gender-based inequality. Gender-sensitive interventions are essential to address ingrained inequalities and achieve gender justice in health.

Finally, multisectoral approaches are urgently needed to build health system resilience to climate and humanitarian crises.

The Economic Survey of Maharashtra for 2025 which was tabled in the state legislature on March 7, highlighted that the comparative sex ratio of females per 1000 males which was 936 in 1961, has seen a marginal decline to 929 by 2023-24, as per the 2011 census projections.

However, the Economic Survey report notes that the Life Expectancy in Females which was 73.9% in 2011-15, steadily rose to 74.9% in 2016-2020, is expected to marginally rise to 75.9% in 2021-2025, to rise to 76.7% in 2026-2030 and further rise to 77.5% by 2031-35.