Graça: R12 a year can save three million lives

The deaths of 3 million mothers and their newborn babies (a number comparable to the population of Tshwane) in 75 high-burden countries annually could be prevented if everyone in the world donated $1.15 (about R12.20) a year.

This is the conclusion of the Every Newborn action plan report, launched at the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Forum, in Sandton, Johannesburg, yesterday.

The action plan, which was approved by global health ministers at the World Health Assembly in May, lists the latest evidence on interventions that could significantly reduce the number of stillbirths and newborn deaths.

Although the number of maternal and child deaths has decreased by nearly 50% since the 1990s, experts said that the number of newborn deaths and stillbirths remains too high.

Newborn deaths account for 44% of all deaths under the age of five worldwide - with 2.9 million newborn deaths (first four weeks) and 2.6 million stillborn (last three months of pregnancy).

Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health chairman Graça Machel, in her first public engagement since the death of her husband, Nelson Mandela, said the action plan showed it was possible to live in a world in which newborn deaths or stillbirths were rare.

She said we could live in a world "in which every pregnancy is wanted, every birth [is] celebrated, and women, babies and children survive, thrive and reach their full potential".

She thanked the world on behalf of the family for the support it gave her and her family before, during and after Mandela's death, adding that his "invisible hand" was guiding the drive to reduce infant mortality.

Over 280000 women worldwide die from birth complications every year. Nearly half of these deaths occur on the day of birth.

The latest figures in the District Health Barometer, compiled by the Health Systems Trust, show that maternal deaths in South Africa dropped from 189.5 per 100 000 births in 2009 to 132.9 in 2012-2013.

Other reports launched at the conference include the Countdown to 2015, Success Factors for Women's and Children's Health and The State of the World's Midwifery.

The conference ends today.