High rates of maternal mortality and morbidity in the developing world—10 to 1000 times higher than in developed countries—represent both a public health problem and a tragic example of the consequences of gender inequity and related human rights violations. There are 585,000 preventable maternal deaths annually; for each woman who dies, approximately 10 others suffer debilitating lifetime injury. The chief causes (obstructed labor, postpartum hemorrhage, toxemia/eclampsia, postpartum sepsis, and abortion complications) call for universal access to emergency obstetrical care (EmOC) but without addressing underlying gender inequity, pregnant women will lack access to services. A new program at Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health, Averting Maternal Death and Disability, funded by a $50 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is taking on the challenge of linking human rights principles to public health programming. This presentation will describe the program and the tools it is developing to monitor government compliance with gender-related human rights conventions (such as the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women), its approach to developing and improving EmOC, and its international partners in this bold initiative.
Learning Objectives: Participants will be able to identify the gender and related human rights violations that contribute to maternal mortality and morbidity
Keywords: Maternal Morbidity,
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.