Overview of Global MCH Challenges - Why can't we get it right?

100 years ago, the maternal and infant mortality in the United States mimicked that of today's rates in the developing world. During the past century, we were able to reduce maternal mortality by 99% and infant mortality by more than 90%.

As with many health issues, we know almost all the factors that can effect major changes in outcomes -- the challenge is in implementation. Much of the focus of today's panel will center around addressing such barriers to implementation while highlighting major breakthroughs in research that can hasten the pace of change.

Complacency is our worst enemy. Even in the United States, rates of maternal mortality have recently doubled. We should note that the underlying conditions that lead to maternal death in India, Bangladesh and Malawi (and for that matter – globally) i.e. postpartum hemorrhage, eclampsia and infection, are in fact the same leading causes of mortality in the U.S.

Given limited resources, it is imperative that governments, NGOs and aid agencies maximize their efforts of collaboration if we hope to achieve major change in maternal and infant outcomes in the near term.