By Mario Villar |
United Nations (EFE).- Inequality and social exclusion, together with the serious crises that countries like Haiti and Venezuela are going through, are the keys behind the increase in maternal mortality seen in Latin America and the Caribbean, according to the Fund for United Nations Population (UNFPA).
The data compiled by the UN indicate that deaths of women during childbirth grew by 15% in the region between 2016 and 2020, with increases in most of the countries after a few years in which progress in this indicator had already come slowing down
“This is very worrying news,” Susana Sottoli, UNFPA’s regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean, told EFE, noting that the figures “expose the harsh reality that, despite having all the resources and knowledge, not only we have not been able to eradicate maternal mortality, but progress has stagnated or even regressed”.
“The bitter face of inequality”
Above all, UNFPA attributes the problem to inequality and exclusion: “women who do not have access to services, who are poor, who are not educated and who have not been able to space out the number of children die,” explains Alejandra. Corao, technical adviser to this United Nations agency, which is in charge of sexual and reproductive health.
“Maternal mortality is the most bitter face of inequality, the most bitter face of exclusion,” Corao insists.
This means that women who live in poor communities, in remote rural areas or who belong to indigenous and Afro-descendant communities have mortality rates well above the average.
This is reflected in the disaggregated figures for various countries managed by the UN. For example, in Brazil the maternal death ratio (number of deaths per 100,000 live births) in 2020 stood at 113 for indigenous women, 128 for Afro-descendants and 68 for the rest.
These enormous differences are also seen in other countries in the region and are also repeated when looking at mortality based on the level of education of the woman.
Maternal mortality, sign of exclusion
In Mexico, for example, the rate is around double for women without schooling compared to those who completed secondary and high school and is also especially high among indigenous populations, according to UNFPA.
“Maternal mortality continues to be a key indicator of social exclusion,” says Sottoli, who highlights how even in countries with solid public health systems there are huge gaps that are contributing to the rise in maternal mortality.
And it is that this situation is not unique to Latin America and the Caribbean: according to the latest UN report, between 2016 and 2020 deaths also grew in Europe and North America, despite the fact that they continued to drop in other regions of the world.
Humanitarian crises and other factors
The negative Latin American data also contributes to the humanitarian crises that are being experienced in two countries such as Haiti and Venezuela, where mortality rates are far above the average and are above those of countries with serious conflicts such as Yemen, although far still one of the lowest records in the world, concentrated in Sub-Saharan Africa.
In the Venezuelan case, Corao points to a whole series of factors such as the lack of family planning methods, the scarce prenatal check-ups and, above all, the problems in responding to obstetric emergencies due to the lack of qualified professionals -fruit of the great exodus of in recent years – and essential supplies – partly due to the sanctions the country is suffering.
In the region in general, another problem continues to be the high rate of adolescent pregnancies, according to UNFPA, which points out that although the deaths are concentrated in the older age groups, many of those women who die began to have children very young. young and accumulate pregnancies and, therefore, much more risk.
The pandemic, meanwhile, has also contributed to worsening the situation, but the trend was already negative before the outbreak of covid-19 and had been brewing for years.
For UNFPA, the most dramatic thing is that most of the deaths are preventable and countries and international organizations are aware of what needs to be done and the type of measures that work.
“We need to return the priority of maternal mortality to the political agenda,” stresses Sottoli.