Sub-Saharan Africa’s Mothers, Newborns, and Children: Where and Why Do They Die?
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Date
2010
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
PLoS medicine
Abstract
This paper is part of a PLoS Medicine
series on maternal, newborn, and
child health in Africa.
Nearly 4.7 million mothers, newborns,
and children die each year in sub-Saharan
Africa: 265,000 mothers die due to
complications of pregnancy and childbirth
[1]; 1,208,000 babies die before they reach
one month of age ; and 3,192,000
children, who survived their first month of
life, die before their fifth birthday [1]. This
toll of more than 13,000 deaths per day
accounts for half of the world’s maternal
and child deaths. In addition, an estimated
880,000 babies are stillborn in sub-
Saharan Africa and remain invisible on
the policy agenda.
With only five years left to achieve the
United Nation’s Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) for maternal and child
health, most African countries in the region
are currently unlikely to meet their MDG
targets. Since time is short for achieving
success, a critical understanding of where
and why these deaths occur, and of strategic,
data-based prioritization of interventions,
are essential to accelerate progress.
Description
Keywords
Sub-Saharan Africa’s Mothers, Newborns, Children
Citation
Kinney MV, Kerber KJ, Black RE, Cohen B, Nkrumah F, et al. (2010) Sub-Saharan Africa’s Mothers, Newborns, and Children: Where and Why Do They Die? PLoS Med 7(6): e1000294. doi:10.1371/ journal.pmed.1000294